21 Facts About Aubrey Gibson

Aubrey Hickes Lawson Gibson was an Australian businessman, arts patron and art collector.

Aubrey Gibson was a director of other major manufacturers and distributors, including Volkswagen Australasia and Hoover Australia.

Aubrey Gibson was a founding director of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust and of the National Trust of Australia, and deputy-chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Aubrey Gibson briefly studied art at the National Gallery of Victoria drawing school, but concluded that art was not his vocation.

Aubrey Gibson said of that time that "with little resistance I allowed myself to be guided into commercial fields".

Aubrey Gibson lived in Hopetoun Rd, Toorak, Victoria for much of his life, but toward the end of his career he maintained a residence in Arthur Circle, Forrest in Canberra.

Aubrey Gibson died on 26 March 1973, survived by his second wife and a child of each of his marriages.

Aubrey Gibson, which was a distributor of electrical appliances and parts.

Aubrey Gibson held other directorships, most notably of Volkswagen Australasia from 1961 to 1967 and Hoover Australia from 1964 to 1970.

Aubrey Gibson was made a lieutenant in the Melbourne University Rifles in 1922, and by the time of World War II had risen to the rank of major in the reserves.

Aubrey Gibson was made a lieutenant-colonel in the Reserve of Officers on 13 May 1945, and was made honorary colonel when placed on the retired list in 1951.

Aubrey Gibson acquired the works of some of Australia's most highly regarded artists, such as Russell Drysdale, Albert Tucker and John Brack.

Aubrey Gibson was to have an opportunity to pursue these views in later roles with the National Gallery of Victoria.

Aubrey Gibson was director of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust at its foundation in 1954, as well as being its Victorian chairman from 1955 to 1967, and president from 1968 to 1971.

Aubrey Gibson was variously trustee, treasurer and deputy chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria in the period 1956 to 1964.

Aubrey Gibson was one of several new faces brought to the Gallery's board at a critical time: the Victorian government had announced a decision to build a new National Gallery in Melbourne, and governance of the existing institution was undergoing significant upheaval.

Aubrey Gibson was reported to be "always a man of strong opinions", bringing a robust and blunt character to some of the meetings of the Gallery's trustees.

Aubrey Gibson provided a donation in 1962 allowing the NGV to purchase the Clement Meadmore sculpture Duolith III.

Aubrey Gibson purchased Tom Roberts' major painting Coming South, for $20000, presenting it to the NGV in 1967.

Aubrey Gibson played many other roles in the arts, through societies of artists, of collectors, and through boards of which he was a member as a result of his involvement with the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust.

Aubrey Gibson was a foundation member of the National Trust of Australia in 1955, and co-founded the Society of Collectors of Fine Arts.