Meules,milieu du jour[Haystacks,midday],1890,a jewel in the national collection,is headed to the Tweed Regional Gallery&Margaret Olley Art Centre in October where it will hang for the next two years.
National Gallery director Nick Mitzevich said no work in its collection could be ruled out for loan,including Jackson Pollock’sBlue poles,recently valued at more than $508 million,or its Andy Warhol,Campbell’s Soup I .
“Of course we wouldn’t put the collection at risk and the institution would have to meet our requirements for security and museum conditions,but if the idea is relevant and makes an impact on community then we are willing to consider it,” Mitzevich said. “We are genuinely excited to share our collection and want to be as generous as we can be.”
The Gallery’s collection comprises more than 155,000 works of art including the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Islander art and some of the finest examples in Australia of French Impressionism,Dada and Surrealism,Pop Art,and Minimalism. The entire collection was valued at up to $6.8 billion last year,with Jackson Pollock’sBlue polesits single most valuable asset and star attraction for Australian and international visitors.
From Monday,expressions of interest for the federal government’sSharing the National Collection program will open with regional galleries and cultural institutions encouraged to register. Preliminary interest is already strong with National Gallery confirming it has received interest from around 30 galleries since the Albanese government announced the scheme in January.
“Art is made to be seen,not kept in a dark room,” arts minister Tony Burke said. “The vast majority of the incredible works at the National Gallery of Australia are in storage at any one time.
“But with this program those works will be lit up on the walls of regional and suburban galleries across the country.”