Collection

The Ashburton Art Gallery holds an assemblage of 702 works in its permanent collection with an additional 2000 plus works on long term loan. At the centre of the collection is the work of award winning children’s book author and illustrator David Elliot. The AAG supports the promotion of children’s literature in New Zealand as an integral part of educating and inspiring our youth and it extends this promotion through the exhibition of its Elliot Collection.

The permanent collection also includes an array of individual works by nationally significant artists such as Philip Trusttum, Nigel Brown, Philip Clairmont and Rudolf Gopas. Through its Collection Policy, the AAG retains a strong focus on acquiring works of art which exemplify excellence and/or are of historical and/or artistic significance to the Ashburton District and wider Canterbury region. With this intent, the AAG also holds individual works by Michael Armstrong, Kath Von Tunzelmann and the late Austen Deans who have contributed greatly to Mid-Canterbury’s artistic identity.