Lover of the Real Australia and Sane Art: William Bolton MBE and the Lionel Lindsay Art Gallery

Reference Type Journal Article
Year of Publication
2007
Author
Journal
Australian Library Journal
Volume
56
Issue
3-4
Pagination
233-50
Language
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Region
Library Type
Chronological Period
Abstract
Toowoomba-based businessman and benefactor William (Bill) Bolton MBE (1905–1973) collected printed materials, manuscripts and artworks with assistance from Sir Lionel and Sir Daryl Lindsay. Prime Minister Robert Menzies opened Bolton’s collection – The Lionel Lindsay Art Gallery and Library – in Toowoomba on 4 April 1959. Sir Lionel hoped that public access to this Gallery and Library would help restore white Australian nationalism and cultural homogeneity. Bolton himself wished his collections to whet patriotic traditions. This paper outlines Bolton’s life and ‘the romantic combination of entrepreneurship and mateship’ that shaped his benefactions.