James Gleeson is represented in the National Gallery of Australia, all state galleries, many regional galleries as well as many other public collections throughout Australia. He has won numerous coveted awards including the 1987 McCaughey Prize, National Gallery of Victoria. 

Bocklin’s Isle as a Contained Mirage 1989 is among the best of James Gleeson’s work. Gleeson painted his large 1980’s canvas as his public gallery responsibilities lessened and found their genesis in the debris and detritus of Peregrin beach. The pair to this painting is in the collection of the World Bank, New York.