John Kaldor gives away his $35 millions collection of a lifetime

JOHN Kaldor began collecting art in his 20s and went on to amass a collection worth tens of millions.

Then he gave it all away.

Yesterday the art gallery of NSW unveiled an entire floor of international contemporary art featuring the John Kaldor Family Collection - 200 works worth more than $35 million.

Mr Kaldor's gift isn't only the single largest donation of art to an Australian public gallery, it's also the most comprehensive collection of international and Australian contemporary art in the country.

Speaking to the press and guests at the opening of his family wing Mr Kaldor confessed to feeling "mixed emotions" about giving away a collection that, until recently, adorned the walls and mantelpieces of his Sydney family home and offices.
"I've never had so many people in my home before," he joked.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

 

He mused that the collection looked different in its new, formal setting but said the donation was a natural extension of his aim to share his "excitement about art with the public".

While the works were promised to the gallery in 2008 the gallery first had to find space to accommodate them.

A $27.6 million grant from the NSW Government provided them with the funds to relocate the gallery's storage facility off-site and transform the subterranean area into a new floor of art, cutting away and removing 1000 tonnes of sandstone in the process to expand the floor’s display space.

The Art Gallery of NSW's director, Edmund Capon, said the floor's transformation from a storage space to one of the "greatest collections of international contemporary art" was "amazing".

"These new galleries are the result of incredible generosity of individuals and the positive support of our state government," Mr Capon said.

"It is a milestone in the history of the Gallery and changes the cultural landscape of Sydney."

The new floor comprises the John Kaldor Family Gallery, a suite of contemporary and modern galleries, a dedicated photography gallery and a refurbished public study room for the Gallery's works on paper collection.

The collection includes a number of commissioned and newly installed works of art including five vast wall drawings by Sol LeWitt, a major wall work by Richard Long and a new installation by Ugo Rondinone on the large stairwell that descends into the John Kaldor Family Gallery.