The Riddoch Art Collection, valued at $4.2 million and consisting of over 1500 items, includes important paintings, sculptures, and prints that depict the people and history of the Limestone Coast; a significant collection of Aboriginal art from Utopia (The Rodney Gooch Collection); and a large collection of 20th Century Australian art. The Collection is regularly featured in the galleries throughout the year, alongside national touring exhibitions and local artists.

The Collection is divided into 4 general areas:

Contemporary Australian Art
The work of Australian artists has been collected by the Gallery since its foundation. These works date from the colonial period onwards, with particularly rich holdings of paintings and sculptures by leading Australian artists. Collecting activity also follows developments in the modern movement of the 1950s and 1960s and post-modern art of the 70ies to 90-ies. The Riddoch also holds works of art of the 21st century.

Some notable artists in the collection are:

Ian W ABDULLA
Rick AMOR
Annette BEZOR
Peter BOOTH
John BRACK
James DARLING
Shay DOCKING
Ken DONE
George GITTOES
Neil FRAZER
Fiona HALL
Barbara HANRAHAN
Paul HOBAN
Aldo IACOBELLI
Kay LAWRENCE
Kevin LINCOLN
Mandy MARTIN
Noel McKENNA
Tim MOORHEAD
Ann NEWMARCH
Ian NORTH
John OLSEN
Deborah PAAUWE
Geoff PARR
Mike PARR
Paul PARTOS
Imants TILLERS
Angela VALAMANESH
Hosein VALAMANESH

Art in Wood
The foundation of this collection is the body of works collected under previous policies. This collection includes works by professional Australian artists/craftspeople (or foreign artists/craftspeople who have produced a significant body of work in Australia) in or after the year 1960. Works acquired for this collection are primarily constructed from wood and should represent developments and trends in the use of the medium
Major artists in this collection include:
Bruce ARMSTRONG
Tony BISHOP
Peter BLIZZARD
Kevin DRAPER
Matthew HARDING
Andrew WOOD

The Institute Collection
The foundation of this collection is the Institute Collection assembled in the late 1800’s by the members of the Mechanics Institute, plus such works that have since been acquired that depict or portray significant images, persons or issues for the people of the South East region of South Australia.

It was John Riddoch, who donated the original collection of early Australian and British work.
Besides the sculptures from Pasquale ROMANELLI, the Collection includes works by:
Thomas BURR
Willem ALBRACHT
James ASHTON
George CALLOW
Tennyson COLE
Edwin Henry DERRINGTON
Margaret FRENCH
A S MURRAY
C NEWLING
John SURTEES
W WADHAM
as well as a number of objects from the material culture of the Boandik indigenous peoples, including Boomerangs, Battle axes, Swords, Knives and Sheaths.
The Collections also includes coins and bank notes.

Regional Artists
The foundation of this collection is the body of works collected under previous policies as well as works acquired for the South East Craft Collection.

This part of the Riddoch Art Collection includes a large number of works by:
Cathleen EDKINS
Iris FRAME
Lorry HUMPHRIES

In addition the Collection includes works by:
Kimberley BUCK
Guy deTOT
Jackie ELLIS
Joann FIFE
Anne MILES
Glenn MORGAN
Trevor PITT
Peter SERWAN
Claire SOUTER
Dagny STRAND
Ivo TADIC
Clementine UNDERDOWN
Carmel WALLACE
Diana WISEMAN
Pieter ZAADSTRA

*PLEASE NOTE: Due to the significant size The Riddoch’s art collection is not always on display, however pieces are curated into exhibitions regularly– please check the list of current and upcoming exhibitions for further details.

The Collections Policy is currently in draft form and will be available online soon. Researchers may contact The Riddoch for further information and to access the works through a private tour.