Art Trail launch

A new open-air cultural experience, the Mosman Art Trail, which takes walkers to 10 scenic locations along a 10-kilometre route, is launching on 30 April. A series of interpretive signs at viewpoints along the trail will provide insights to 12 notable paintings from Mosman Art Gallery’s The Balnaves Gift that are inspired by sites on the trail.

The late Neil Balnaves AO, long-term Mosman resident, businessman and philanthropist, in 2010 donated The Balnaves Gift to Mosman Art Gallery and the local community from his personal collection. This extraordinary gift comprised 16 Australian Impressionist and early 20th-century paintings worth more than one million dollars at the time. These evocative artworks depict the area through the eyes of such renowned and beloved Australian artists as Arthur Streeton, Margaret Preston and Elioth Gruner.

During Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdowns, Neil walked the tracks of Mosman and found great joy experiencing the same scenery depicted in the paintings he donated. He wanted to share that enjoyment with others and first proposed what has become the Mosman Art Trail, with key paintings from The Balnaves Gift reproduced on outdoor signs placed at the artists’ viewpoints. After Neil’s passing in 2022, his wife Diane and children Hamish and Victoria were determined to complete the project in his memory through The Balnaves Foundation.

Spoken word commentary explaining the history of each work, read by actor Claudia Karvan, will be accessible via QR code on the signs and on the Mosman Art Gallery website.