The 35 paintings and two sculptures made up a major part of internationally-renowned paint maker Jim Cobb’s private collection until 2013, when he approached gallery director, the late Alan Sisley to find a new home for them. He  handed the works over in 2014.

The bold colours of the paintings, contrasted with the dark and light walls they are exhibited on, catch the eye as visitors walk through the exhibition, entitled Chroma: The Jim Cobb Gift, with names like Elisabeth Cummings, John R Walker and Emily Kam Ngwarray featured on the walls.

“Before, people from Orange would have had to travel to Sydney or Canberra to see paintings of this calibre. It means we have access to high quality, original paintings,” exhibition curator Bradley Hammond said.

The unifying factor of the artworks, which are of different subjects and styles, is the oil and acrylic paint used is all from Cobb’s company Chromacryl.

Mr Hammond hoped Orange residents and the 600 primary school children who were booked in to see the public collection would learn about the different aspects of colour and be inspired to create their own works.

“It’s a great resource to us, we can learn about paint and its textures and colours, and also see new and interesting ways of looking at the world,” Mr Hammond said.

“The key thing is these belong to everybody, Jim’s given them to us.”

The exhibition, which is on display until March 29, will be opened tomorrow night by award-wining artist Bela Ivanyi.

alexandra.king@fairfaxmedia.com.au