QAGOMA receives transformative bequest from Win Schubert

Kohei Nawa’s PixCell-Double Deer#4 2010 / Purchased 2010 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kohei Nawa / Photograph: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA

Kohei Nawa’s PixCell-Double Deer#4 2010 / Purchased 2010 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kohei Nawa / Photograph: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA / View full image

Some 125 years on from its establishment, QAGOMA has received the largest philanthropic gift in its history: a $35 million bequest from the late Win Schubert AO (1937–2017), which will indelibly transform the Collection.

The inspiring gift has established The Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Charitable Trust and will support the acquisition of major Australian and international works.

Mrs Schubert found great joy in sharing art with others, and her vision for the Trust was to develop and maintain a permanent collection of artworks created in or after 1880, for the advancement of art education in Australia. Held by QAGOMA, works from this group will appear in the Gallery’s forward exhibition program.

Among the most generous cultural gifts of its kind in Australia, Mrs Schubert’s bequest will be transformative in supporting and extending the state’s Collection and the cultural experiences of Queenslanders now and into the future.

Win Schubert

A Gold Coast-based philanthropist, gallerist and art lover, Win Schubert AO was one of the Gallery’s most generous supporters. Her inspiring patronage over two decades enabled the Gallery to acquire more than 100 artworks. Many of these are visitor favourites, including Cai Guo‑Qiang’s Heritage 2013, Yayoi Kusama’s Flowers that bloom at midnight 2011, Nick Cave’s HEARD 2012 and Kohei Nawa’s PixCell‑Double Deer #4 2010.

The Gallery acknowledged Mrs Schubert’s remarkable benefaction in 2012 with the naming of the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (QAG galleries 10, 11, 12 and 13), and again in 2015 with the QAGOMA Medal.

RELATED: Cai Guo‑Qiang’s ‘Heritage’

RELATED: Nick Cave’s ‘HEARD’

Cai Quo-Qiang’s Heritage 2013, GOMA, 2013 / 99 life-sized replicas of animals: polystyrene, gauze, resin and hide/ Commissioned 2013 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Cai Quo-Qiang / Photograph: Brodie Standen © QAGOMA

Cai Quo-Qiang’s Heritage 2013, GOMA, 2013 / 99 life-sized replicas of animals: polystyrene, gauze, resin and hide/ Commissioned 2013 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through and with the assistance of the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Cai Quo-Qiang / Photograph: Brodie Standen © QAGOMA / View full image

Installation view of Yayoi Kusama’s Flowers that bloom at midnight 2011, GOMA 2017-18 / Fibreglass-reinforced plastic, urethane paint, metal frame / Purchased 2012 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Yayoi Kusama / Courtesy: Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc. / Photograph: Natasha Harth © QAGOMA

Installation view of Yayoi Kusama’s Flowers that bloom at midnight 2011, GOMA 2017-18 / Fibreglass-reinforced plastic, urethane paint, metal frame / Purchased 2012 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Yayoi Kusama / Courtesy: Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc. / Photograph: Natasha Harth © QAGOMA / View full image

Mrs Schubert supported the acquisition of 15 ‘soundsuits’ from Nick Cave’s HEARD 2012, which featured in ‘Sugar Spin: you, me, art and everything’, Gallery of Modern Art, 2016–17 / Purchased 2016 to mark the tenth anniversary of the Gallery of Modern Art with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the QAGOMA Foundation / Photograph: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA

Mrs Schubert supported the acquisition of 15 ‘soundsuits’ from Nick Cave’s HEARD 2012, which featured in ‘Sugar Spin: you, me, art and everything’, Gallery of Modern Art, 2016–17 / Purchased 2016 to mark the tenth anniversary of the Gallery of Modern Art with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the QAGOMA Foundation / Photograph: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA / View full image

Kohei Nawa, Japan b.1975 / PixCell-Double Deer #4 2010 / Mixed media / 224 x 200 x 160cm / Purchased 2010 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the QAG Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kohei Nawa

Kohei Nawa, Japan b.1975 / PixCell-Double Deer #4 2010 / Mixed media / 224 x 200 x 160cm / Purchased 2010 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the QAG Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kohei Nawa / View full image

The Schubert Circle

Mrs Schubert’s generosity will be remembered through the eponymous Schubert Circle, a dedicated program launched in October to recognise donors who have included a gift to QAGOMA in their Will.

At a time when art and artists around the world are facing unprecedented challenges, we hope that Mrs Schubert’s generosity will inspire others to consider giving to QAGOMA.

By including a gift to the Gallery in your Will, you can share your love of art and enrich the lives of others. The opportunities your gift can create are far-reaching and will enable QAGOMA to continue connecting people with art and ideas through access to the Collection, innovative programs, exhibitions and events.

For more information about the Schubert Circle or including a gift to the Gallery in your Will, please contact the Bequest and Communications Officer on (07) 3840 7287 or at foundation@qagoma.qld.gov.au. All inquiries are treated confidentially.

Win Schubert AO received the QAGOMA Medal at the Foundation Annual Dinner, Queensland Art Gallery, October 2015 / Photograph: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA

Win Schubert AO received the QAGOMA Medal at the Foundation Annual Dinner, Queensland Art Gallery, October 2015 / Photograph: Joe Ruckli © QAGOMA / View full image

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Featured image: Kohei Nawa PixCell-Double Deer#4 2010 / © Kohei Nawa / Photograph: J Ruckli © QAGOMA

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Oscar Friström ‘View of Scarborough’ 1899 JJ Hilder ‘Island schooner, Moreton Bay’ 1910 When the Queensland National Art Gallery opened in 1895, Jenner was one of the first three artists to present a painting for the Gallery’s founding collection with Cape Chudleigh, Coast of Labrador 1893 (reworked 1895) (illustrated), together with R Godfrey Rivers (1858-1925) with Woolshed, New South Wales 1890 (illustrated), and Oscar Friström with Duramboi 1893 (illustrated). The painting of the Coast of Labrador, imagined fifty years after the event and half a world away, is a romantic recollection from Jenner’s voyages to the frozen North with the distant crimson glow suggesting the fate of a ship which disappeared during a failed expedition to discover the North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The tragedy captured popular imagination during the nineteenth century. Isaac Walter Jenner ‘Cape Chudleigh, Coast of Labrador’ 1893 R. Godfrey Rivers ‘Woolshed, New South Wales’ 1890 Oscar Friström ‘Duramboi’ 1893 Jenner was an untrained artist, who, after serving as a seaman with the Royal Navy (illustrated), retired at the age of 29 to Brighton, England, to pursue a career in art. Though this might be perceived as a somewhat unconventional decision, Jenner undoubtedly had a natural, conservatively expressed talent and he achieved moderate success in England. His first-hand experience of ships and the sea made it inevitable that he should become primarily a marine painter. As a seaman, Jenner was knowledgeable about the construction and rigging of ships; he also worked as a ship’s painter, which included doing decorative work and signwriting.It is likely that Jenner would have observed marine artists at work on board ships throughout his naval career. Isaac Walter Jenner serving in the Royal Navy As historical documents, Jenner’s paintings of early Brisbane record the busy shipping life of the municipality. 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