Oh.Great!
'Blue Holes' : with apologies to Jackson Pollock
"365: the 2017 edition","365:2017","Day 278/365","5-Oct-17"
These blue paper curtains, are used to separate the beds in this hospital. If everyone plays nice, they create an illusion that everyone will not be able to hear whatever is said on the other side of the curtains.
1973: National Gallery of Australia purchaseEdit
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 authorise purchases over $1 million, so the acquisition was approved by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
I remember the time very well. The purchase elicited a great deal of public discussion; according to art historian Patrick McCaughey, "never had such a picture moved and disturbed the Australian public". The debate centred on the painting's record selling price, at the time a world record for a contemporary American painting, as well as the perceived financial ineptitude of Whitlam's Labor Party government and debate over the relative value of abstract art In the conservative climate of the time, the purchase created a political and media scandal, the likes of which had never been seen before or since. Eventually it was the straw that brought down a government.
The painting has become one of the most popular exhibits in the gallery, for both its value as a major work of 1950s abstract expressionism, and its significance in Australian politics and history.The painting's present value is $350 million, but its increased value has at least shown it to have been a worthwhile purchase from a financial point of view.
Wiki provided some material. Day 2 (3) hospital.
■■■This is the third time I have written these notes. I wish I knew a foolproof way to modify them without the risk of them all disappearing again. I'll be back to edit the again after breakfast. Until then, sorry for the lumpy text.
'Blue Holes' : with apologies to Jackson Pollock
"365: the 2017 edition","365:2017","Day 278/365","5-Oct-17"
These blue paper curtains, are used to separate the beds in this hospital. If everyone plays nice, they create an illusion that everyone will not be able to hear whatever is said on the other side of the curtains.
1973: National Gallery of Australia purchaseEdit
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 authorise purchases over $1 million, so the acquisition was approved by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
I remember the time very well. The purchase elicited a great deal of public discussion; according to art historian Patrick McCaughey, "never had such a picture moved and disturbed the Australian public". The debate centred on the painting's record selling price, at the time a world record for a contemporary American painting, as well as the perceived financial ineptitude of Whitlam's Labor Party government and debate over the relative value of abstract art In the conservative climate of the time, the purchase created a political and media scandal, the likes of which had never been seen before or since. Eventually it was the straw that brought down a government.
The painting has become one of the most popular exhibits in the gallery, for both its value as a major work of 1950s abstract expressionism, and its significance in Australian politics and history.The painting's present value is $350 million, but its increased value has at least shown it to have been a worthwhile purchase from a financial point of view.
Wiki provided some material. Day 2 (3) hospital.
■■■This is the third time I have written these notes. I wish I knew a foolproof way to modify them without the risk of them all disappearing again. I'll be back to edit the again after breakfast. Until then, sorry for the lumpy text.