Guardian Trust Distributes $440,000 for Auckland Art Gallery Acquisition of Major Contemporary Work

Visitors to the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki have a new acquisition to admire, in the form of German contemporary artist Andreas Gursky’s 2010 large-scale photograph Ocean III. Gallery purchases are nothing unusual, but this one is something special: $440,000 of the work’s total cost came from charitable trusts administered by Guardian Trust and established by two art-loving Aucklanders.

Recognising the opportunity to meet the purposes of the trusts and continuing to honour the legacies created by Lyndsay Garland and Graeme Maunsell through their respective trusts, funds were combined to make this substantial contribution. Lyndsay Garland was an accountant and investor whose gift for numbers funded his passion for travel and the arts, and ultimately the charitable trust which gifted $100,000 towards Ocean III.

The other trust which contributed $340,000, was established by Graeme Maunsell in 1992. Little is known about Mr Maunsell beyond his interest in supporting the arts.

The two trusts are among 85 managed by Guardian Trust (of the company’s 462 charitable trusts under management) with the potential to direct funds specifically to support the arts, culture and heritage.

Ocean III is the first work by Gursky to enter a public collection in New Zealand. It is the largest of six photographs in a series depicting major oceans of the world, and one of two featuring the islands of New Zealand.

Since 2000, Guardian Trust has administered regular distributions from the Garland and Maunsell Trusts to fund acquisitions of paintings and photographic works for art galleries. Collectively, more than $1.28 million has been distributed for these purposes to date, including $450,000 towards the acquisition of a Tony Fomison painting by the Garland Trust in 2007.

Guardian Trust’s general manager of personal client services, Philip Morgan Rees, says, “These very generous trusts illustrate how targeted and consistent giving is possible over many years, when the financial vehicles are well-structured and the funds managed effectively.

“Both gentlemen had an interest in supporting the arts and were specific about how distributions were to be directed. The trusts they set up have over the past 12 years purchased outright or contributed to the acquisition of seven works for public display, for the enjoyment of all New Zealanders and in particular the citizens of Auckland.”