Precious Prints

Josef Scharl, ‘Junges Paar’ (Young couple). Woodcut, c.1935, Marion and David Adams Collection, Baillieu Library Print Collection.

This print is from a collection of European expressionist prints donated to the Baillieu Library late last year by David Adams. The collection was begun by Adams, a retired engineer, and his late wife Professor Marion Adams in the early 1970s. Professor Adams, who was passionate about collecting, was an academic and was Dean of Arts at the University of Melbourne from 1988 to 1993.

The Baillieu Library received 79 prints and woodcuts, while the Ian Potter Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Victoria have also received precious items from the Adams’.

Mr Adams believes in the importance of donating such cultural treasures to institutions such as the University, giving the collections a good home that will know their value and protect them, as well as making them available for viewing and research to all.