Rosemaur Gallery hearings to decide fate of Lindsey Hogg’s $500m art collection

Fight erupts over plans to build gallery for rare art collection with billionaire and his sister-in-law at loggerheads.

Melbourne billionaire Lindsey Hogg in front of a selection of works from his $500m art collection. Picture: David Caird

A $500m art collection, whose billionaire owner warns will be lost from Victoria unless his proposed gallery is approved, is at the centre of public hearings starting on Monday.

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning will on Monday launch a public consultation into the proposed Rosemaur Gallery to be built at Harkaway in Melbourne’s southeastern fringe.

The gallery, restaurant and function centre is backed by low-key Melbourne billionaire Lindsey Hogg who, over decades, secretly assembled what is considered to be nation’s largest private art collection.

The collection is made up of 150 works by artists include Sidney Nolan, Brett Whiteley, Francis Bacon and Gustav Klimt.

Prized works include Whiteley’s famous The Jacaranda Tree (On Sydney Harbour), which set an Australian record when Mr Hogg bought it incognito for $1.98m two decades ago, as well as paintings from Nolan’s famous Ned Kelly series.

Mr Hogg said art had brought him great pleasure and he wanted Victorians to be able to access and enjoy his collection in perpetuity.

“To have Australian art hanging side-by-side with overseas masterpieces, such that this collection holds, will be truly unique,” he said.

But the proposed cultural development – and the traffic it will bring – has sparked a sustained backlash from locals who have pushed both Casey Council and the state government to reject it.

A petition organised by opposition group Friends of Harkaway has attracted more than 1200 signatures.

Founder Philip Battye said Rosemaur was an “intensely commercial development” which will be built in a rural green wedge zone away from any public transport.

“It’s completely unsuited to the area,” he said.

Mr Hogg is adamant Rosemaur must be built at Harkaway, citing his family ties to the area and the amount of work that has already gone into the project.

The collection will be lost to Victoria if his plans are knocked back, he has warned.

“We’ve got plenty of options outside Victoria,” he said.

The public consultation period will run over March before a report is presented to Planning Minister Richard Wynne who will make a final decision.

FAMILY TWIST IN $50M DEVELOPMENT FIGHT

Spending money, says low-profile Melbourne billionaire Lindsey Hogg, has proven far easier than giving it away.

The 80-year-old manufacturing magnate has unexpectedly found himself at the centre of a protracted planning dispute over plans to build a gallery to house his $500m private art collection.

The proposal would effectively gift what is considered to be the nation’s largest private art collection – David Walsh’s collection housed at the Museum of Old and New Art is valued at $100m – to the people of Victoria.

The sticking point is Mr Hogg’s insistence his cherished collection be housed in a gallery, restaurant and function centre he plans to build among the rolling hills of Harkaway on the southeastern outskirts of Melbourne.

The $50m development – and the traffic it will bring – has sparked a sustained backlash from locals, including in a family twist, Mr Hogg’s sister-in-law.

An artist impression of the site in Harkaway. Picture: Architecture Associates

Mr Hogg, a relatively unknown Melbourne billionaire who made his fortune in the plastics industry, insists it is Harkaway or nothing, citing strong family ties to the area.

Whether Victoria secures the collection, whose works have been loaned to international galleries including The Tate in London, is set to be determined by Minister of Planning Richard Wynne and a month-long public consultation process which kicks off on Monday.

“One could never have imagined the journey that has unfolded when we began,” Mr Hogg said.

“If this exercise has taught me anything it’s that it’s far easier to spend money than give it away.”

Amassed in secret over decades, Mr Hogg’s collection of around 150 works includes paintings by modern Australian, British and European masters including Sidney Nolan, Brett Whiteley, Francis Bacon and Gustav Klimt.

Among the prized works — often bought under a fake name — are Whiteley’s famous The Jacaranda Tree (On Sydney Harbour), which set an Australian record when Mr Hogg bought it incognito for $1.98m two decades ago, and Bacon’s Blood On The Floor.

A triptych by the British artist sold for $US142 million ($180m) in 2013.

The collection would be protected in a charitable trust set up to ensure it is made available to the people of Victoria in perpetuity.

“I don’t believe the public have had the opportunity to view such works in a single collection by modern British, European and Australian masters ever before and certainly not in Australia,” Mr Hogg said.

An artwork by artist Anthony Bickerton that will be part of the collection. Picture: David Caird

“To have Australian art hanging side-by-side with overseas masterpieces, such that this collection holds, will be truly unique.”

Under the proposal, the gallery would be built on an eight-hectare block in Harkaway and include a 150-seat restaurant and function centre able to accommodate 600 patrons.

The restaurant and function centre would ensure the gallery is financially self-sustaining, Mr Hogg said.

It’s a development opposition group Friends of Harkaway says has been foisted on the community with little to no consultation and is totally out of character with the area.

A petition organised by the group has attracted more than 1200 signatures.

Friends of Harkaway founder Philip Battye argues Rosemaur is an “intensely commercial development” which will be built in a valuable green wedge zone away from any public transport.

Residents are concerned about the level of traffic the facility will bring into the rural hamlet and point out the site’s only access point, Kings Road, is a narrow, dead-end dirt road.

Mr Battye said it is clear the road will need to be widened and sealed, making it unsuitable for local horse riders, while the single access point raises concerns around bushfire management.

Brett Whiteley’s painting The Jacaranda Tree.

“It’s (Rosemaur) completely unsuited to the area,” he said.

Mr Battye praises Mr Hogg’s philanthropic desire to make his collection available to his home state, but says it needs to be housed elsewhere and questions why it is Harkaway or nothing.

“Some might say that is almost like holding a gun to the head of decision makers,” Mr Battye said.

Mr Hogg is adamant Rosemaur – named after his immigrant parents Rose and Maurice – must be built at Harkaway.

At 80, he argues he is too old to come up with another plan and the area is of deep significance to him.

Instead, if his proposal is rejected the collection risks being sold, potentially to overseas buyers.

“We’ve got plenty of options outside of Victoria,” Mr Hogg said.

Mr Hogg’s parents – his father was a chemist – immigrated to Melbourne from England in the 1930s seeking out a better life.

They found it, but there were tough days around World War II when the family ran out of ration coupons while Mr Hogg left school on his father’s orders to take up a job.

“This piece of land represents to me my parents’ success and their struggles,” he said.

“I’ve owned it for 40 plus years – my father built his home on the next-door allotment. I hope it gives inspiration to others who settle in this country and call it their own.”

Mr Hogg argues he has employed “a vast quantum of specialists” to address community concerns, pointing out the complex has been designed to blend into its surrounds while a native planting program and wetlands will improve the site.

“It’s a place where all Victorians can encounter art and engage with nature – that’s how I see it,” he said.

“At the end of the day, this project is not about me at all. It’s about my parents who I wish to honour and the people of Victoria and Australia who will be able to enjoy this art gallery in perpetuity.”