‘Extraordinary gift’: Lindsay and Paula Fox donate $100m to National Gallery of Victoria

The biggest donation to the arts in Australia will help build NGV Contemporary, a new gallery for modern art in Melbourne, to be named The Fox.

Lindsay Fox, centre, with wife Paula at the announcement of their record-breaking $100m donation to build the NGV Contemporary. Picture: AAP

Trucking magnate Lindsay Fox puts it down to the power of Paula. When his wife asked him about giving $100m of the family’s fortune to the National Gallery of Victoria, all he could do was say yes.

The Foxes’ $100m – the largest single cash donation to an Australian gallery – will be used to help build NGV Contemporary, a major new art museum due to open in Melbourne in 2028.

The third branch of Victoria’s state gallery will be named The Fox: NGV Contemporary, in perpetuity.

At the NGV’s St Kilda Road gallery on Tuesday, Mr Fox said the donation was all his wife’s doing. “She has been on the board here for 10 years, and she is a great believer in community and a great believer in giving,” he said.

“She is the one who’s responsible for it.”

Artist impression of NGV Contemporary, with its spherical central hall

The road to becoming a major arts benefactor may be an unlikely one for Mr Fox, who started his trucking business with a second-hand Chevy, which he used to deliver coal around St Kilda.

His company Linfox grew to be one of the nation’s biggest logistics operations. His personal wealth is estimated at $4.36bn and he ranks at No.20 on The List: Australia’s Richest 250.

Mrs Fox sits on the NGV Foundation and it was through her association with the gallery’s fundraising body that gallery director Tony Ellwood asked if the family would contribute to NGV Contemporary.

“I think it’s going to be the most amazing contemporary building, it’s incredible,” she said.

“I just love our director, Tony Ellwood, he has done the most amazing things for the gallery. I think this gallery is going to bring people from all over the world.”

At 30,000sq m, The Fox: NGV Contemporary will be the nation’s biggest museum for contemporary art.

Exterior view of NGV Contemporary, due to open in 2028.

Designed by Sydney-based firm Angelo Candalepas and Associates, it features a giant spherical void at the centre called an omphalos, the Greek for “navel” or “centre of the world”.

When open, the gallery will have large exhibition spaces for contemporary art, as well as displays of design, fashion and architecture, and a rooftop terrace.

The construction cost has not been disclosed but the gallery is part of a $1.7bn redevelopment of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. The NGV must raise at least $200m towards its part of the project and the Ian Potter Foundation has ­already contributed $20m.

The Foxes’ $100m gift was ­described on Tuesday as being transformational. It exceeds the legendary bequest of Alfred Felton, worth £378,033 in 1904 and equivalent to about $58m today, although the value of artworks the bequest has acquired exceeds $2bn.

Mr Ellwood said the Foxes’ donation had followed years of support for the gallery, including funds towards the acquisition of artworks by contemporary artists Nick Cave and Jeff Koons.

Mrs Fox said “Lindsay didn’t hesitate” when she asked him for $100m. “He was quite happy to do it – he really supports me in everything I do,” she added.