Former architect Graeme Williams collected 250 art pieces over more than 40 years and wanted to donate the entire collection to the Ballarat gallery.

However the gallery selected 49 art works to add to its collection because it only collects works by Australian artists.

Unlike many art donors who leave collections in their will, Dr Williams decided to gift his collection to an art gallery while he was still alive.

A heart arrest six years ago leaving Dr Williams clinically dead, had an impact on his decision.

He said he chose the Art Gallery of Ballarat because it was the largest regional art gallery in Australia and he had links to the city.

"I had relations who came from here on my mother's side. I think one is Bentley (whose pub was burned in the Eureka Stockade)," Dr Williams said.

"I did a doctorate at Federation University at the School of Mines, finishing in 2020."

Dr Williams' collection features well-known Australian artists, including Sidney Nolan, John Brack, Russell Drysdale, Fred Williams, John Olsen, Brett Whiteley and contemporary artists Rick Amor, Marion Borgelt and Noel McKenna.

His favourite pieces include works by Thornton Walker and Sidney Nolan, of which one is the artist's rarest pieces.

Dr Williams said it was good to see the works on display, knowing they would be used in various exhibitions and hung as part of the gallery collection.

"I want them to have a good home, in a place where the public can access them," he said.

Dr Williams donated the collection in honour of his children Antony and Tess, who are both deceased, and whose names appear on each art piece label.

He said although he personally knew all of the living artists in his collection, he bought most of the collection through art exhibition openings over the years.

Dr Williams said he fell in love with art while studying architecture at RMIT in the 1960s and he spent hours reading about the fine arts at the State Library in Swanston Street, Melbourne.

Art Gallery of Ballarat director Louise Tegart said the donation allowed the gallery to expand its collection of significant Australian artists.

"It's an amazing and welcoming gift," Ms Tegart said.

It is one of the most significant additions to the gallery collection in the past 30 years.

The artworks were gifted through the Australian government's 'cultural gifts program', a scheme that allows donors to receive a taxation benefit for donations of artworks to cultural organisations.

'A precious gift: The Graeme Williams donation' will be held at the Art Gallery of Ballarat until October 16.

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