The like to share their collection though – they regularly lend to galleries, “particularly the regional galleries, who really rely on private collectors for exhibitions”, says Patricia “or if an artist wants a work for their show; I think it’s disrespectful to say no to the artist, as it’s a privilege to have their works”.
Works in Rachael Hart’s home include a piece by mid-century artist Jasper Johns and a sculpture by Melbourne artist Jarrah De Kuijer.The first piece they bought together was a large-scale painting by Michael Georgetti. “It was a big investment at the time, but we just fell in love with it.
“They were on site for six weeks, so we became close friends and are still in contact,” says Hart. “And we are lucky to now have work in the collection from each of them!” Cormick’s workfor the past several months. “We’ve run out of space now,” says Harris of their house, which has art hanging from the floor to the ceiling, as well as on every shelf, sideboard and table.
Hobbs has spent much of his life around art; his late father Michael Hobbs OAM was a well-known Sydney collector, philanthropist and founding board member and benefactor of Sydney’s Artspace.“When I was about seven, I’d been playing a lot of sport,” says Neil. “He said, ‘We don’t really like sport, do we?’ Because on Saturday afternoons he liked going to art galleries instead.”They have a few works from his father, but most of their collection is contemporary.
Between loaning out works, acquiring new ones and “at least four or five emails every day” about art fairs and exhibitions, their hobby almost sounds like a full-time job.