Pollock’s Blue poles could be coming to a suburban gallery near you

A Claude Monet masterpiece worth $174 million will be the first painting from the National Gallery of Australia collection to be loaned out to a regional gallery under a new federal government scheme that could also see its most famous work Blue poles shared across the country.

Minister for Arts Tony Burke with Claude Monet’s, Meules, milieu du jour [Haystacks, Midday] at the National Gallery of Australia.Credit: Rohan Thomson

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’s Blue 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’s Blue poles its single most valuable asset and star attraction for Australian and international visitors.

From Monday, expressions of interest for the federal government’s Sharing 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.

Jackson Pollock’s Blue poles is the single most valuable painting in the NGA’s collection.Credit: James Brickwood

“But with this program those works will be lit up on the walls of regional and suburban galleries across the country.”

The scheme is available for large galleries and small, with council buildings, halls, libraries also eligible, provided they are located more than five kilometres from capital city CBDs.

Commercial galleries and private collectors and major east coast State collecting institutions are unable to apply and loans are for a minimum of two years. Along with the Monet, three works by iconic Australian artist Margaret Olley will also travel to the Tweed in 2024, the announcement coinciding with celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Olley’s birth which falls Saturday.

“I know this gallery in the Tweed well,” Burke said. “It’s where a recreation of Margaret Olley’s home is on display, exactly as it was – so in a sense her works are coming home.”

Olley is one of Australia’s most celebrated painters of still life and interiors and was a strong supporter of regional galleries. The Tweed has recreated areas of Olley’s famous home studio, principally the Hat Factory and the Yellow Room to give a rich and dynamic context for Olley’s extensive artistic career.

A fifth painting Natura morta [Still life], 1956, by Georgio Morandi – one of Olley’s favourite artists - will also travel to NSW’s far north coast next year.

The federal government announced the pilot for long-term loans as part of Revive, its new national cultural policy.

The scheme pays for conservation, crating, freight and installation costs and offers additional support including curatorial advice and help with learning and education for smaller galleries and museums.

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