Two worlds of prestige have collided at the National Automobile Museum of Tasmania where an art exhibition has been installed alongside a luxurious Rolls-Royce SIlver Ghost.
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The museum, which has been a fixture in Launceston for over 30 years, has teamed up to offer patrons a glimpse into the grace of fine art while they awe at the mechanical beauty of automobiles.
Museum manager Phil Costello said the art enhances and diversifies the experience.
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"There are paintings on one wall, and skateboards and BMX bikes on the other," Mr Costello said.
Like many places, the lack of tourism due to COVID-19 hit the museum hard, and Mr Costello said they were keen to see some old and new faces come by and see the new installation.
Mr Costello said the paintings would hand in the museum for most of 2021 and he was looking forward to the interest they may drum up.
Martin McBain is a fine art restorer and is curating the exhibition.
Mr McBain said most of the art is from Gladstone Eyre, an artist who spent about a decade in Launceston at the turn of the 19th century.
Gladstone Eyre painted a number of iconic local landmarks including Cataract Gorge and the Tamar river, both of which are hanging in the museum.
Most of the paintings on display have hardly been seen by the public.
- Martin McBain, exhibit curator.
"People that have come in already have had a lot of interest," Mr McBain said.
Mr McBain said while works by Gladstone Eyre made up a majority of what was on show, other local artists adorned the walls as well.
"There are quite a lot of Tasmanian scenes and most of the works are Tasmanian subjects," he said.
Another one of those Tasmanian artists alongside the Rolls-Royce is Joshua Higgs Junior, another artist who operated around the same time as Gladstone Eyre.
Similarly to Gladstone Eyre, Joshua Higgs painted Tasmanian scapes and is synonymous with the Tasmanian art world.
The National Automobile Museum of Tasmania is a community funded not for profit organisation and is open 365 days of the year.
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