Mervyn Horton
Mervyn Horton AM | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 July 1917 |
| Died | 1 February 1983 (aged 65) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | Newington College |
| Occupation | Art editor |
| Spouse(s) | Single; Never married |
| Parent(s) | Harry Horton and Ethel Mabel (née Harris) |
Mervyn Emrys Rosser Horton (27 July 1917 – 1 February 1983) was an Australian art editor, art collector and philanthropist.[1]
Early life[]
Mervyn Horton was born and grew up in Sydney, attending Newington College (1930–1935)[2] and the University of Sydney where he studied medicine but after a year changed to law before dropping out.
Working life[]
He was a Director of the Katoomba Collieries before joining Ure Smith Publishers and becoming Director of the company and founding Editor of Art and Australia. In 1956 he opened La Galleria Espresso, a coffee bar in Rowe Street, Sydney.
Community involvement[]
He served as Secretary of the Society of Artists, an Executive Member of the Arts Council of Australia (NSW Division), a Board Member of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), a Trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and an Australian Commissioner for the XIIIth Bienal Internacional de São Paulo.
Honours[]
In 1982 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the General Division.
Legacy[]
On his death he left substantial bequests to the National Trust and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The doyen of the Sydney art world for thirty years as a writer, collector, patron and philanthropist, the Mervyn Horton Bequest has to 2006 purchased over $8 million of contemporary art for the Art Gallery of New South Wales. His papers are held by the National Library of Australia.[3] It was a condition of Horton's bequest to the Art Gallery of New South Wales that it display annually a painting of himself by Australian artist, Bryan Westwood. The gallery has not observed this condition.
Publications[]
- Present Day Art in Australia (1969)
- Australian Painters of the '70s (1975)
References[]
- ^ Australian Dictionary of Biography
- ^ Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) pp92
- ^ National Library Papers of Mervyn Horton
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- 1917 births
- 1983 deaths
- Australian art historians
- Australian philanthropists
- People from Sydney
- People educated at Newington College
- Members of the Order of Australia
- 20th-century Australian historians
- 20th-century philanthropists