preface

NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK COLLECTION Highlights of Australian Art

PREFACE

In the early 1970s, NAB began to acquire Australian artworks that celebrated the diversity and depth of modern Australian artistic vision. Over the subsequent decades, NAB’s collection has given art appreciators a unique glimpse into some of the very best examples of our country’s contemporary art. Featuring more than 2,000 works, the collection includes examples from some the country’s most recognised artists including Frederick McCubbin, Sidney Nolan, Arthur Streeton, John Brack, Jeffrey Smart and John Olsen.

However, while many of these artworks are quite historically important, they are not significant to NAB’s history. Although the art is appreciated, it is clearly not core to NAB’s role as a bank supporting customers, and accordingly, in early 2021 NAB made the decision to sell the vast majority of the Australian art collection and reinvest funds back into the community via the NAB Foundation.

This builds on the NAB Ready Together program to support Australians before, during and after natural disasters. All proceeds of the sale will be donated to the NAB Foundation supporting community grants that help prepare people, communities and our environment for natural disasters, and support long-term recovery and resilience work. As NAB Group Chief Operating Officer, Les Matheson, notes

‘We’re constantly driven to find new ways to help our customers and communities prosper. Proceeds from this sale will go back into the community, helping the NAB Foundation provide grants over coming years. At a time when Australia’s climate is changing, communities and the environment face increased risk from natural disasters, these funds will allow us to do even more to help.

By redirecting these profits into the NAB Foundation, the funds will contribute to the Foundation’s grant programs to further safeguard local and regional communities and fund projects that will support our economic recovery and ensure Australia is more prepared for natural disasters and climate change.

We hope this work will help the communities and customers we serve and make a real difference at a critical time for the nation’s economic recovery from COVID-19 and the extreme bushfire and weather events of 2020.’