Penrith Regional Gallery
                                    & The Lewers Bequest

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The Collection

Margo Lewers Various Colours 1971

Australian artworks from the early 1930s to the 1970s, a period which is increasingly being recognised in terms of important developments in Australian art.

The collection parallels the artistic developments of Gerald and Margo Lewers and their milieu. The collection focuses on the development of Abstraction in Australia, from early geometric abstraction to abstract expressionism. Together with accompanying archival material, the collection is now widely recognised as an important national resource for research and exhibitions.

Its financial worth has grown commensurate with its importance and a host of significant artists are represented, including Gerald and Margo Lewers, Frank and Margel Hinder, Tony Tuckson, John Olsen, Leonard Hessing, Stanislaus Rapotec, John Coburn, Peter Upward, Judy Cassab and Ralph Balson.

The Gallery’s collection was founded on the Lewers Bequest, comprising site, buildings, furniture, books, publications and works of art.

A major aspect of this bequest was works of art of Gerald and Margo Lewers and their contemporaries. Gerald, Margo and their friends, who included influential artists Desiderius Orban and Frank and Margel Hinder, were instrumental in the development of modernism in Australia.

The gallery regularly acquires additions to the collection which demonstrate:

• The philosophies and practices that Margo, Gerald and their contemporaries explored;

• The contrasts and comparative philosophies of the same period (1930s-1970s);

• Those philosophies and practices which are felt to have influenced, or have been influenced by, those of Margo, Gerald and their contemporaries, such as Abstract Expressionism, Constructivism and Minimalism.

Recent acquisitions include:
John Olsen; Robert Klippel; Eva Kubbos; Sheila McDonald; Frank Hinder; Martin Sharp; Elwyn Lynn; Judy Cassab; Leonard Hessing; Margo Lewers.