Notice to Australia’s galleries: Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles is available for loan.
Controversially acquired by the National Gallery of Australia for $1.3 million in 1973, Blue Poles has almost always been on display in Canberra since the gallery opened in 1982.
But NGA director Nick Mitzevich said he’s open to lending out the abstract expressionist painting, if he’s convinced it would be looked after and make an impact.
“If it contributes to the cultural life in Australia, we would consider requests,” he told AAP.
As part of the national cultural policy announced on Monday, the NGA will expand its lending to share artworks with regional and suburban galleries and cultural institutions around Australia.
The gallery has more than 155,000 works in its collection valued at more than $6.8 billion, with 99 per cent in storage.
It already lends out many artworks for periods of one or two months, but the new program would result in works being on loan for as long as five years.
The existing lending program has had some recent hits.
For example, Sidney Nolan’s iconic 1946–47 Ned Kelly series has rarely left Canberra, but over the past three and a half years, the paintings have toured the country, giving almost two million people the chance to see them.
The lending program is one of dozens of new initiatives in the cultural policy, but ahead of its launch the government warned the policy would not solve the problems facing Australia’s major collecting institutions, including the NGA.
The gallery houses artworks worth billions of dollars, but the building isn’t waterproof: the roof and windows leak, and stormy weather has staff reaching for towels and tarpaulins.
“It’s not cultural policy whether or not you have a leaky roof, but it is something the budget has to address,” Arts Minister Tony Burke told reporters on Monday.
It’s estimated that over the next decade the gallery will need $265 million to maintain and replace key infrastructure – including outdated firefighting equipment.
With short-term extra funding running out in July, Dr Mitzevich said a lack of action will mean massive cuts.
“We’re optimistic that the government understands the problem, and is taking it seriously,” he said.
At the National Library, online database Trove is facing a similar funding deadline, while the National Film and Sound Archive is calling for donations to digitise its tape collection before it becomes unusable within the next two years.
By Liz Hobday in Melbourne
