Visual art
An outstanding art collection is the Janet Holmes à Court Collection, on display in the grounds and gallery at Vasse Felix, Margaret River. This private Collection has developed over six decades and now holds close to 5000 pieces. It is an internationally renowned collection which continues to grow.
The art collections owned by the cities of Bunbury and Albany and the City of Busselton, Collie and Plantagenet began as donations from the arts patron Sir Claude Hotchin. Hotchin believed that art had both a civilizing and educational role, and this motivated him to ‘bring art to the country’. From the late 1940s to the 1970s Hotchin donated hundreds of artworks by Australian artists to local government authorities across the State. When a shire or town created a gallery in which to show the artworks, it was rewarded with more donations. As Hotchin intended, many of the recipients have developed substantial art collections which include contemporary artworks by local, State and national artists.
Paintings by local Aboriginal artists can be found in two collections in Collie. The Coalfields Museum holds a number of landscape paintings by Phillip Hansen. In the Visitors Centre, an entire wall is covered by Kalguty (Meeting Place) by Troy Bennell, Basil Hart and Mark Denn. Down the road, in the Bunbury Museum, a woven basket conveys resourcefulness as well as creative talent. The craftsperson, Margorie Ridley, made this basket from Guildford grass, described as the ‘despised weed’.
The Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum holds paintings by Ellis Silas, who was one of only three artists to record scenes at Gallipoli from first-hand experience, and the only one to record actual battle scenes. While in Albany, visit Strawberry Hill/Barmup to find some special historic paintings.
In some places, artworks are embedded into the environment. The Shire of Augusta-Margaret River Library has several artworks by local artists such as the courtyard waterfall by ceramicist Ian Dowling and the children’s reading nook by Rebecca Cool. The Understory Art Trail at the Northcliffe Visitors Centre provides an experience of being immersed in nature and art. Many Western Australian artists, writers and musicians of note have been commissioned to create pieces for the Art Trail experience.
