Roddy

At 77 retired Supreme Court Judge Roddy Meagher's lifetime passion for collecting art is well-known in certain art world circles in Sydney. Well travelled and well educated, Roddy's appetite for art has never waned despite running out of space - he won't hesitate to mention given all the interest in art as investment that he has never contemplated selling anything he has ever bought, for profit or not

Thankfully for us, Roddy has generously bequeathed his collection to the University of Sydney, his old alma mater, and luckily for me being gainfully employed at one of his favourite galleries, I was given a sneak preview of his collection in the place for which they were always intended - his Darling Point home

Although there are many large and colourful works in Roddy's collection, I was totally captivated by the countless intimate works on paper hung salon style in the corridors and stairwell. Side by side are works by European masters, Australian heroes as well as new works by recent graduates from Sydney's National Art School

Charles Conder sketch of Baron Meyer

Brett Whiteley ink drawing

Annabel Butler

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Maxime Pierre Dethomas

Nicolas de Staël 

Andrew Logan sculpture

Japanese ceramic pots in the foreground and a glimpse
of a portrait of Roddy in the background
by his late wife Penny Meagher