Royal Exhibition Building 2014

Summary

The Art and Heritage Collection holds three artworks by Alex Johns, who signs his works ‘Lino Prince’. Made in 2014, these limited-edition linocut prints depict three historical and decidedly local icons: the Royal Exhibition Building, built for the Melbourne International Exhibition of 1880–81; Flinders Street Station, opened in 1910; and the W-class tram, a rarity on the tracks today, with only 12 operating, but a firm fixture in urban memory since it entered the fleet in 1923. All three of these ‘institutions’ are recognised by Heritage Victoria or the National Trust, the first also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Johns’ prints came into the collection through private donation in 2015.