Donated engravings depict beauty and precision

A magnificent set of five 19th century hand-coloured engravings of Pacific marine species by French scientific illustrators was recently donated to Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA) by Alex Wakulenko.

Struck by the beauty and precision of the engravings, Alex – who is a keen diver – purchased the works in the 1980s. Appreciating their value as both artistic and historical documents, he recently decided to donate them to the FUMA collection.

‘The French presence in the South West Pacific is an important story that we don’t hear much about,’ says Alex. ‘Showing these beautiful engravings may help remedy this in a very visual way.’

If you would like to support education and research through the donation of artwork to the Flinders University Museum of Art, please contact Fiona Salmon on +61 8 8201 2531 or via email fiona.salmon@flinders.edu.au

^{Poissons, plate 11 from Atlas Zoology, in Voyage de la corvette l’Astrolabe: execute par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829, M Massard (active 1833), engraver, A Duménil (active 1833), printer, after Antoine-Germain Bevalet (1779-1850), published 1833-34 by J Tastu, Paris, hand-coloured engraving printed in coloured inks on paper, 40.2 x 26.5 cm (plate), 50.5 x 33.1 cm (sheet). Gift of Alex Wakulenko, Collection of Flinders University Museum of Art 5946.}