Arts & Culture
Sir Claude Hotchin collection
Sir Hotchin was born in South Australia in 1909 and moved to Perth in 1925 with his wife Marianne.
He always enjoyed visiting art galleries and gradually started to collect his own artwork which he displayed in his home, which soon became a place that friends and artists would visit and gather. In 1947 he established the 'Claude Hotchin Art Galleries' on Hay street in Perth, which was managed by his daughter Margaret.
The gallery operated for five years and during that time hosted over 76 exhibitions and displayed more than 3000 original pieces of work.
Between 1948 and 1977, Sir Hotchin donated an estimated number of 2000 paintings to approximately 14 public institutions throughout WA such as public art galleries, councils and most famously the Royal Perth Hospital and the University of Western Australia.
The Shire of Manjimup was gifted a number of artworks along with the Cities of Bunbury, Geraldton, Albany and Kalgoorlie, and the Shires of Katanning, Northam, Narrogin, Collie amongst others.
The Shire of Manjimup collection
The Shire's collection is part of the legacy that Sir Hotchin left the state and remains an important cultural asset of the Shire. The Shire presents and preserves the collection, which keeps these pieces in a generally sound condition.
The collection celebrates the important contribution of artists such as Howard Taylor, Helen Smith and Guy Grey-Smith, as well encourages and appreciates the important contribution that local professional and amateur artists make in our community.
The Shire allows various groups, such as the Pemberton Arts Group, to borrow pieces of the collection to display as a part of their exhibitions. By displaying these works, the Shire and the groups are honouring Sir Hotchin's original intention behind gifting the artwork - to provide regional people with exposure to some of the best visual arts practices that occurred in WA at the time. His wish was to encourage enjoyment and participation in the arts, support for visual artists and to raise the general level of cultural appreciation of the audience.
