Max Watters House at No 5 1962
oil on hardboard

The Max Watters Collection

For over 40 years, Max Watters has been collecting other artist’s work.  His taste is eclectic and embraces painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, glass through to fibre  art.

Purchased through the sale of his own work, the Max Watters Collection has grown to over 300 works.  It is regarded as one of the most significant collections of its type in rural Australia, and showcases some of the most influential names in Australian contemporary art: John Perceval, Grace Cossington-Smith, Ken Whisson, Charles Blackman, Danila Vassilieff, Euan Mcleod, Immants Tillers and Tony Tuckson to name but a few.  These works complement the collection’s numerous examples of other prominent artists at their peak.

In March 2004 Max Watters signed over his collection to the Shire of Muswellbrook so that residents and vsitiors alike could enjoy in perpetuity his vision.  It is, indeed, a generous bequest.  This gift has the primary intention to provide art education for generations to come, to inspire visual awareness and curiosity, and promote culture as a tool for tourism in the area.

Selected works from the Max Watters Collection are displayed year round at the Arts Centre.