Blue Poles
| Artist | Jackson Pollock |
|---|---|
| Year | 1952 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 210 cm × 486.8 cm (83 in × 192 in) |
| Location | National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
Blue Poles (original title: Number 11, 1952[1]) is an abstract painting from 1952 by the American artist Jackson Pollock, considered[by whom?] to be his most important painting.[citation needed] It is owned by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
[edit] National Gallery of Australia purchase
In 1973, the Australian Government had purchased the work for the National Gallery of Australia, then called the Australian National Gallery. Its controversial purchase, at the time, for US$2 million ($AUD1.3 million).[2] by the then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam elicited an amount of public debate, firstly over the painting's value - (this was a world record for a contemporary American painting),[3] secondly questioning the financial aptitudes of the then Labor Party, and finally a novel debate between art-lovers and many who considered abstract art in general a worthless investment. In the conservative climate of the time, the purchase created a political and media scandal.[2]
The painting became one of the most popular exhibits in the gallery and was thought to be worth over $AUD40 million in 2003.[3] It was a centrepiece of the Museum of Modern Art's 1999 retrospective in New York, the first time the painting had returned to America since its purchase.
Most significantly, for Australians, its 1973 purchase is still frequently cited by the Labor Party faithful as proof of the wisdom of Gough Whitlam. Estimates of the painting's value vary widely, often neglecting factors such as inflation and other conventional forms of investment. However, the painting's increased value has still shown it to have been a worthwhile purchase by financial standards; and there has been a subsequent decline in Australian scepticism about the value of art. [4]
[edit] References
- ^ National Gallery of Australia. International Painting and Sculpture: Blue poles. Accessed 3 February 2012.
- ^ a b Barrett, Lindsay (2001). "The Prime Minister's Christmas Card: Blue Poles and the cultural politics of the Whitlam era". University of Sydney website. University of Sydney. http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/power/publication/?id=The_Prime_Mi. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Gough! Splutter! Museum's blue poles cause a whole new row". The Age. 4 November 2006. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/11/1071125590423.html.
- ^ "Today's philistines, Australian Council of University Art & Design Schools Annual Conference". Hon. Peter Garrett's Keynote speech. 28 September 2006. http://www.petergarrett.com.au/229.aspx.
[edit] External links
- Blue Poles at the National Gallery of Australia
- Blue Poles on loan at the National Gallery of Victoria
- Article from Melbourne's The Age regarding "blue poles" at the National Museum of Australia
- Hon.Peter Garrett's Keynote speech: Today's philistines, Australian Council of University Art & Design Schools Annual Conference
