The FM Courtis Collection
Fred Courtis, then Head of Art Education at the Bendigo Teachers' College, commenced this collection of Australian works of art in 1958.
The first works acquired for the collection were Arthur Boyd's Grampians Landscape and Len Annois' Templestowe Landscape. Intended as a valuable teaching resource, the collection was developed to foster a national identity through the appreciation, understanding and enjoyment of the visual arts.
Artists now represented in the collection include Sir Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Sir William Dargie, Leonard French and George Johnson.
Known as the FM Courtis Collection, the 350 plus art works are displayed primarily in the Education Building of the University’s Bendigo campus.
An important resource for Bendigo, it provides the opportunity for students to have close and continued contact with quality art works, thus creating an enriched environment for their learning as teachers and for their broader personal development.
Image: George Johnson, New Zealand b.1926, arr. Australia 1953, Canto 1965, oil, mixed media on board, 29.3 x 28.0 cm, F.M. Courtis Collection. La Trobe University, Bendigo