The value of the collection underscores its importance as the NGA faces a financial cliff that ends a short-term funding injection of $24.77 million in June this year. The gallery is considering drastic measures, including mandatory staff cuts, closure of Canberra buildings for two days a week and possible reintroduction of admission fees.
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The cultural institution also faces a funding shortfall of $265 million over the next decade to waterproof the 40-year-old building. This is a critical project to protect our multi-billion dollar collection.
Kiara O’Reilly, director of museums and heritage studies at the University of Sydney, said the gallery was a good buy, but blue poles The intrinsic value was the symbol of the modern state.
“That painting was a giant of American art history and now holds an incredible place in Australia’s cultural identity,” she said. It was a disgrace at the time, and interest in the painting grew, giving it a national reputation before the gallery opened.
“That’s what gets me. It’s all tied to Morrison and Gough Whitlam and their vision of Australia. It was an opportunity for
Pollock’s blue stick According to its 2022 valuation, it contains 155,717 individual works of art, making it by far the most valuable painting in the gallery’s collection. All of the gallery’s top 10 precious works are by internationally renowned artists who were purchased by Morrison while he was building his national collection.
Claude Monet’s Meules, milieu du jour (haystack)When Nymphius [Waterlilies] They are currently worth $174.2 million and $130.6 million respectively.The second most valuable object in the gallery is Constantin Brancusi’s L’Oiseau dans l’espace (Birds in Space), O’Reilly sees this as an under-recognized gem. Two sculptures make him worth $290.3 million.Francis Bacon triptych It is currently worth $217.7 million.
“Jackson Pollock’s blue stick It is by far the most valuable piece in the National Collection because it is one of the most important works of the 20th century,” said gallery director Nick Mitsevich.
“This is an exemplary painting of the Abstract Expressionist movement and the final in a series of Pollock works that changed the course of contemporary art.”
O’Reilly said the gallery’s 40th anniversary purchases reflect a shift towards Australian art. “I hope that in the future we will be just as excited to see Aboriginal monuments and the giant works of Emily Kame Kungwaree and other Aboriginal works. They’re buying for the long term, not for public gain.It’s important to remember that they’re buying for the state, but they’re buying for the masses.”
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