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Right:
Bryan Kneale
(b.1930)
Portrait of Rex de C. Nan Kivell 1960

oil on composition board; 127 x 71.2 cm NK9530

Section 6

Portrait of the Collector

 

Through his passion for collecting, Rex Nan Kivell recreated himself as an antiquarian and gentleman connoisseur of international repute. Based in London from 1919, he began to collect material for a pictorial history of New Zealand and Australia. His interests soon extended beyond the purely pictorial and, with extensive contacts in the art world, he was in an ideal position to extend his collection. Most of his purchases were made at auctions or through dealers who drew his attention to items they thought would interest him. He also contacted other collectors and families with significant colonial connections to see if they held material of interest that they would be prepared to sell. Concerned for the collection's safety in postwar Britain, Nan Kivell negotiated with the (then) Commonwealth Library to accept its care in return for unlimited public access. The first items began arriving in 1949 and ten years later, after protracted and delicate negotiations, the collection was purchased. Nan Kivell continued adding to the collection until his death in 1977.

On the recommendation of the Australian Government, Nan Kivell was twice honoured; first in 1966 with a CMG for services in providing the National Library of Australia with valuable early Australian and Pacific paintings and manuscripts; and then in 1976 with a knighthood for 'services to the Arts'.

 

1. Unknown
Portrait of a Lady c.1840

 

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