The University of Melbourne Art Collection

The University of Melbourne Art Collection housed and managed by the Ian Potter Museum of Art largely comprises of Australian art. The collection also incorporates other key areas. These include a collection of international Indigenous cultural material, decorative arts, and a collection of 20th century poster designs. The collection of contemporary art includes many Australian and international artists who have held residencies at the university. Contemporary holdings are augmented by The Vizard Foundation Art Collection of the 1990s which is managed by the Potter.

During the 1930s, a major donation to the university was The Ewing Collection including works by leading Australian artists such as Arthur Streeton, Fredrick McCubbin, E Phillips Fox and Charles Conder. The 1930s also saw the commissioning of the Leckie window by Napier Waller, which is on permanent display in the Potter atrium. The growth of the collection was also given impetus in 1946 with the establishment, through the support of Sir Keith Murdoch, of the Herald Chair of Fine Arts, the first chair of Art History in Australia. The Foundation Professor, Sir Joseph Burke, brought together the Society of Collectors whose members made a major contribution to building the collections through the donation of significant works.