Patrick Corrigan AM (b. 1932), freight entrepreneur and arts benefactor, came to Australia in 1945, having spent four years with his English mother in a Hong Kong prison camp. In 1967, with a loan of $1 000, he established Corrigan’s Express with his mother as his office secretary. From there, he went on to become the head of several international freight companies. Corrigan had had a collector’s instinct since childhood; through freighting books he became interested in book collecting, and over time he built a significant library of books, journals and letters relating to Australian art and artists. At the same time, he built up an art collection. Most of the objects he amassed have now been sold or given to public institutions, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Gold Coast Regional Gallery and the State Library of Queensland. He has donated or facilitated the acquisition of 130 works for the National Portrait Gallery, including more than 100 photographs of Australian artists by Greg Weight.
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2007
© Paul Newton
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