JIM Cobb is happy his $1 million collection of artworks finally have a permanent home at Orange Regional Gallery.
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The legendary paint maker had a smile on his face as he wandered around the exhibition titled CHROMA: the Jim Cobb gift yesterday, viewing the 35 paintings and two sculptures that once belonged in his private collection.
“I’m absolutely amazed. It’s so well displayed with the partitions, separate little cubicles to give each artist their own space. It’s as good as something you’d see in New York,” he said.
“I think my collection is bigger and better than I realised.”
It’s the first time all 37 works have been on display together since they arrived at the Orange gallery last year.
After Mr Cobb’s collection grew too big for his Sydney home, he donated it to the Orange Regional Gallery when no metropolitan gallery he approached would take the whole collection.
“They wanted to cherry pick from the collection. I wanted to have it shown in its entirety, so it ended up here, in very good hands,” Mr Cobb said.
VIDEO: How the Chroma paint is made:
“It gives the gallery a breath of what’s going on in Australian art.”
Among the distinguished Australian artists in the collection are Elisabeth Cummings, John R Walker and Emily Kam Ngwarray, as well as a portrait of Mr Cobb by Euen Macleod.
Internationally recognised for his company Chroma, founded in 1965, Mr Cobb has worked with artists for 50 years to develop paints, including the first acrylic paint.
All artworks in the collection use Chroma paint.
Mr Cobb, who began his collection in the 1990s, said seeing the exhibition had inspired him to begin his next round of collecting.
“It [collecting] is like going backstage at the theatre; you get to see behind the scenes, see what the artists are doing.”
The exhibition was opened last night by Mr Cobb’s long-time friend and artist Bela Ivanyi, and will be on display until March 29.
alexandra.king@fairfaxmedia.com.au