Guide to the Papers of Robert Ingpen, 1961-1994

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 9141, MS Acc12.13, MS Acc18.123, MS Acc18.148
Creator:
Robert Ingpen
Extent:
13.58 metres and (17 ms boxes + 4 phase boxes + 1 map folio + 1 packet + 8 pieces)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Robert Ingpen, National Library of Australia, [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises personal papers and artwork created or collected by Ingpen in the course of his illustrating and writing career and through his involvement in various organisations.

Aspects of Ingpen's work reflected in the papers include designing books, murals, postage stamps, posters, and publicity brochures, work with the United Nations, with heritage, conservation and scientific institutions, and with CSIRO. His long association with the establishment and operation of the Swan Hill Pioneer Village is also well documented.

The papers include correspondence, design proposals, consultant reports, drafts of publications and talks, layouts and mock-ups of books, research files, exhibition catalogues, publicity material and newspaper cuttings.

Biographical Note:

Robert Ingpen, illustrator, designer, writer and consultant, was born in Geelong in 1936. He was educated in Geelong before studying art and illustration under Harold Freedman at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 1955-58. Early in his career he specialised in relating design to scientific research, and this included work as a graphic design artist for the CSIRO, 1958-67, commissions for designing pamphlets on fisheries for the United Nations in Mexico and Peru, and involvement in a number of Australian conservation and environmental projects. He launched into freelance work in 1968.

Ingpen's work has focused on environmental and heritage issues and his exploration of fantasy and imagination. He is best known as an illustrator, and as an author of children's books, and historical books and pamphlets for adults. He has painted murals on public buildings, designed the flag and coat of arms for the Northern Territory, and designed postage stamps, including stamps for the Captain Cook Bicentenary and the 50th anniversary of CSIRO. He has been involved in a number of conservation and environmental projects, including the establishment of the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement as consultant/designer. He was one of the founders of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

Ingpen rose to prominence with his illustrations for Colin Thiele's classic children's story Storm Boy, winning for him the first Visual Arts Board award for children's book illustration. He won the international Hans Christian Anderson Medal for children's literature in 1986, and the Dromkeen Medal in 1989.

Collection Retrieval Advice:

Please note: each consignment in this collection has a separate box number sequence (i.e. there may be multiple Box 1s). Please cite the relevant Class number as well as the Box number when requesting retrieval of material from the collection.

Provenance:

The papers were donated to the Library under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts scheme.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1501947).
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Robert Ingpen, National Library of Australia, [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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