The Russell and Mab Grimwade ‘Miegunyah’ Collection
The Sir Russell and Lady Grimwade Bequest is an extensive collection of cultural material from the estate of Sir Russell and Lady Mabel Grimwade. It comprises artworks, photographs, decorative arts, furniture, almost two thousand rare books, historical documents and other memorabilia. Russell Grimwade was a man of wide-ranging interests embracing industry, science and art. His collection and the Grimwade home ‘Miegunyah’ was bequeathed to the University of Melbourne in Sir Russell’s will of 1949 and presented to the university after the death of Lady Grimwade in 1972. The collection is housed at the Potter, the University Archives and the Baillieu Library.
The Grimwade Collection provides a perspective on the visual history of Australia from the time of European discovery to the 1950s, with dominant themes reflecting Russell Grimwade’s desire to document the exploration, settlement and development of Australia as a nation, and the growth of Melbourne as a city. Many prominent colonial artists are represented including Conrad Martens, ST Gill, John Glover, Eugene von Guérard and Nicholas Chevalier among others. William Strutt, arguably Australia’s finest genre painter of the period, is central with some twenty-three works being held, including the historically significant painting Bushrangers, Victoria, Australia 1852 (painted 1887).
In recent years the Grimwade Collection has been augmented by the acquisition through purchase of a number of paintings and works on paper, with funds generously contributed by the Sir Russell and Mab Grimwade Miegunyah Fund. This fund was established from the proceeds of the sale of Miegunyah by the University in 1987 to provide support for those areas that were central to the donors’ wishes.
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