The Collection The Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s collection includes an excellent selection of British and European paintings and works on paper, gifted by generous benefactors or purchased by the Gallery’s founding organisation, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society. Many of the major figures in Western art since the 15th century are represented, with high points including paintings by Machiavelli, Claude Lorraine, Rosa, Monet, Pissarro, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Turner and Burne-Jones. Other international aspects of the collection include Japanese prints, a small selection of 20th century Australian art, and much of the decorative arts collection, which ranges across costume, textiles, ceramics, glass and furniture. Collecting New Zealand art is an important priority for the Gallery. The earliest works in this area of the collection date from the 1860s when the colony was still in its infancy. Notable New Zealand artists represented in the collection include George O’Brien, Petrus van der Velden, C.F. Goldie, Rita Angus, Colin McCahon, Gordon Walters, Ralph Hotere as well as younger artists like Richard Killeen, Philip Trusttum, Jacqueline Fraser, Peter Robinson and Michael Parekowhai. Occupying a special place in the collection is the work of painter Frances Hodgkins, whose father founded the Gallery. Born and raised in Dunedin, she left early in her career to live and work in England where she gained a significant reputation in the context of Britain’s Neo-Romantic movement. Today the Dunedin Public Art Gallery focuses its acquisitions funds on the purchase of contemporary New Zealand work, although other areas of the collection continue to be expanded through gifts and bequests.