The Cleary Collection
Celebrating 20 years of Giving
5 April - 26 May 2019
This is a unique collection of artworks defined by the vision of one person.
Alan (Tony) Cleary has had a lifetime passion for the visual arts. In the 1970s he started visiting commercial galleries in Sydney’s CBD and Paddington, reading up on the critics’ reviews and art journals. His passion for art grew, and he decided to start his own collection.
When first collecting he set himself a limit of $500 a painting, the limit set on his Bankcard. Alan Cleary had always lived in small city apartments, so rather than having one large painting dominate a room, he preferred a series of smaller works hung throughout his domestic spaces. This strategy cunningly also allowed him to buy more art.
As he became a more knowledgeable collector and he began to define his collecting tastes, Alan was able to collect small works by some of Australia’s most significant artists with the collection including works by Arthur Boyd, Charles Blackman, Lloyd Rees, Nora Heysen. With contemporary artists including works by Elizabeth Cummings, Tom Carment, Jenny Sages, Janet Dawson and Wendy Sharpe, Maeve Woods, and Angus Nivison among many others.
Alan’s collecting parameters meant he had not only to be resourceful and informed but also trust his own eye. In this respect he would often seek out emerging artists. He wasn’t interested in buying work for its potential as an investment; the final deciding factor in making a purchase was based on his personal response to the work.
2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the first donation Alan made from his collection to the people of the Hawkesbury. Initially through the Hawkesbury City Council, in anticipation of the building of the Regional Gallery which came to fruition in 2005. Once the Gallery was complete the collection was moved and subsequent donations arrived here. Sometimes quite unexpectedly.
Gallery staff were fortunate to meet Alan on several occasions when he would decide to donate some additional works. Often, donations would be preceded by a hand written letter informing the Gallery that he would be bringing the works into the gallery the following week and could we please call to arrange a suitable time.
As Curator, Diana Robson recalls :
On a number of occasions, I would receive a call from the Gallery front desk and be informed that Alan was here with works for the collection, carried on the train from his home in Wyong, on the Central Coast.
He was a very determined character, and quite surprising in many ways. He lived alone in an unassuming house near the railway line in Wyong. As anyone who visited would tell you, it seemed an unlikely place for a large collection of artworks to be housed.
Diana:
One of my fondest memories of Alan was visiting him to choose works for an exhibition we held in 2008.
I walked up to the front door imagining that the walls of the house would be covered with art … However upon entering Alan’s home I could see that all the works were stacked several deep all around the walls throughout the house. I was a little confused …
I spent several hours looking at the collection and listening to Alan as he talked passionately about collecting; about seeing the works for the first time; why he had bought and loved this painting and that one.
I asked him if he would wait until the works returned to rehang everything?
He replied no, and then informed me that he did not keep the collection on the walls. Rather each of the works would be carefully wrapped in sheet and blankets and stored in one of the many wardrobes and cupboards throughout his home. It made no sense to me, but perfect sense to Alan. And I will always wonder why?
A. E. (Tony) Cleary
Alan is the great grandson of Thomas Cleary who, as a seven year-old boy, emigrated from Waterford Ireland and settled at Pitt Town Bottoms in 1830. The Cleary family has had a continuous association with the Hawkesbury since then.
One of ten children, Alan was born in Windsor in 1936. He was educated in Pitt Town and Richmond, where he completed the Leaving Certificate in 1954. He commenced employment at Windsor Court House, and later qualified as a solicitor. He also completed his National Service Training in the Royal Australian Air Force.
He worked in various suburban and country courts, including five years at Broken Hill. In 1985 he transferred from Local Courts to the Dubbo Regional Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. He elected to take voluntary early retirement in 1991 in order to pursue his interest in the visual arts.
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