Brasch, who founded Landfall, a leading New Zealand literary magazine, in 1947 and edited it for about 20 years, was a significant philanthropist, strongly supporting cultural activities in Dunedin, often anonymously and always without fanfare.
He is understood to have been a key contributor to the establishment of the University of Otago's Robert Burns Fellowship, and was a major benefactor of the Otago Museum, including by donating cultural artefacts.
He continued to support the institution financially, through his estate, after his death in 1973.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Willi Fels, a major museum benefactor, and other members of his family, Brasch had become part of a tradition of philanthropy within his extended family.
He succeeded his grandfather on the Otago Museum management committee and played an important role at the museum, both through governance and gifting.
He also supported the Hocken Library and other Dunedin cultural institutions.
Otago Museum chief executive Shimrath Paul said the exhibition was a "wonderful opportunity" for the museum, and the Otago community, to recognise "the substantial contribution this generous man made to Otago during his lifetime and well beyond".
The title of the exhibition: `A great good man': Charles Brasch (1909-1973) is drawn from a tribute which award-winning writer Janet Frame paid to Brasch as "a great good man", after his death.
The exhibition runs until October 4.
