'James Fairfax was one of the nation's greatest philanthropists, collectors and champions of Australian art. Chairman of what was then known as John Fairfax Ltd, he put together one of the country's most important collections of European Old Masters, and was a generous benefactor to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.
'In this evocative biography his nephew, Alexander Gilly, pieces together Fairfax's life through the prism of his art collection. Through a long-case clock built by Fairfax's grandfather and given to his parents as a wedding gift, a painting by Rubens, a sculpture by Robert Klippel, a mural created for his country home by Donald Friend and other treasured objects, Gilly reveals the complex private and public lives of a man at the centre of a media dynasty.' (Publication summary)
“Subject to His Birth” The Biography of a Prince
2025
29674567
2025
single work
podcast
review
'This week on The ABR Podcast, Christopher Allen reviews James Fairfax: Portrait of a collector in eleven objects by Alexander Edward Gilly. James Fairfax, who was born in 1933 and died in 2017, was born into the ‘greatest press dynasty Australia had yet seen’. Christopher Allen is the national art critic for The Australian. Listen to Christopher Allen’s ‘“Subject to his birth”: The biography of a prince’, published in the January-February issue of ABR.' (Production summary)
“Subject to His Birth” The Biography of a Prince
2025
29674567
2025
single work
podcast
review
'This week on The ABR Podcast, Christopher Allen reviews James Fairfax: Portrait of a collector in eleven objects by Alexander Edward Gilly. James Fairfax, who was born in 1933 and died in 2017, was born into the ‘greatest press dynasty Australia had yet seen’. Christopher Allen is the national art critic for The Australian. Listen to Christopher Allen’s ‘“Subject to his birth”: The biography of a prince’, published in the January-February issue of ABR.' (Production summary)
