In August 1973 the Australian Government, through the National Gallery of Australia's acting director, James Mollison, bought Blue Poles by Jackson Pollock. The painting cost $1.3 million – the most ever paid for an American painting in the world at that time.
Jackson Pollock's controversial Blue poles valued at $500 million.
Painted four years before the artist's death in 1956, the purchase price of US$2 million (then equivalent to A$1.3 million) set a new record for Pollock and was, at the time, the most expensive American painting ever sold.
In August 1973, the Whitlam Government purchased Jackson Pollock's 'Blue Poles' for $1.3 million, the most ever spent on a US artwork at the time.
Mollison and Heller agreed Pollock would have liked his monumental painting to be in Australia. The acquisition of Blue Poles, however, sparked a major controversy in Australia as people protested against the high price paid for it – in fact, it was the highest price every paid for an American painting at that time.
The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) purchased Blue Poles in 1973 for A$1.3 million. The gallery's director at the time, James Mollison, was not able to authorize purchases over $1 million, so the acquisition was approved by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who decided that the price should be made public.
Gough Whitlam visiting Blue poles, which was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia in 1973. David Bartho. Yet as Linda Morris reports today, the painting is now an unquestioned masterpiece and has increased in value to $500 million.
"Jackson Pollock's Blue Poles is by far the most valuable artwork in the National Collection because it's one of the most important works of the 20th Century," an NGA spokesperson said.
In 2020, his 1974 work Henri's Armchair broke the auction record for the most expensive Australian painting when it was sold for AU $6.1 million to a Sydney art collector.
The Mona Lisa is one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for the highest known painting insurance valuation in history at US$100 million in 1962, equivalent to $1 billion as of 2023.
While in many ways continuing his now trademark 'all-over' composition, Pollock pushed his endeavours in abstraction further by introducing the bold presence of the eight blue 'poles' that intersect the canvas.
Yes, the painting in on display in the International galleries on level 2, and is visible during opening hours, albeit with some equipment that visitors wouldn't always see.
Jackson Pollock's 'Blue poles' - National Gallery of Australia.
Blue poles was first exhibited as 'Number 11, 1952' in Pollock's solo show at Sidney Janis Gallery in New York in November 1952. Two years later, he gave it the descriptive title 'Blue poles', which refers to the eight dark vertical stripes that interrupt the swirling surface.
He was interested in Jungian psychoanalysis, which is based on ideas of a “collective unconsciousness” that all humans share. Pollock's erratic splashes of paint are intended to communicate to us the way he was feeling and thinking at the time he made the painting.
A colorful painting of two Tahitian women by Paul Gauguin has reportedly been sold by a Swiss family foundation to a group of state museums in Qatar for nearly $300 million, a record sum for a single work of art.
Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci
The New York Times reported the buyer was acting for a Saudi prince, Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud—the painting has since been under the ownership of the Saudi Arabian culture ministry.
The most expensive paintings in the world
The most expensive painting ever sold is the Salvator Mundi, the Saviour of the World in English, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
A brief on the painting was prepared for Prime Minister Whitlam, as his approval was needed for such an expensive purchase. Whitlam signed off on the acquisition and he personally announced Australia's success in buying what MoMA called 'the most important post-war American painting still in private hands'.
The majority of power poles are made from Australian hardwood timbers such as Spotted Gum, Ironbark, Blackbutt, Grey Box, Tallow Wood and Blood Wood.
Joyvio, a subsidiary of Chinese group Legend Holdings, a vast conglomerate whose assets include computer giant Lenovo, acquired Australis in a deal worth $921 million (€857 million). The price was over $40 million (€37 million) more than the initial offer.
true blue. Very genuine, very loyal; expressing Australian values; Australian. This derives from a British English sense of true blue, recorded from the 17th century with the meaning 'faithful, staunch, unwavering in one's commitments or principles; extremely loyal'.
Jackson Pollock's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 15 USD to 61,161,000 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork.