Blue Poles

Infobox Painting|

backcolor=#FBF5DF
painting_alignment=right
image_size=200px
title=Blue Poles
artist=Jackson Pollock
year=1952
type=Oil on canvas
height=210
width=486.8
height_inch=83
width_inch=192
city=Canberra
museum=National Gallery of Australia

"Blue Poles" is an abstract painting from 1952 by the American artist Jackson Pollock, more properly known as "Blue Poles: Number 11, 1952". It is similar to other drip paintings by Pollock, with the addition of eight large vertical blue "poles" placed over the top. It is owned by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

National Gallery of Australia purchase

In 1973, the work was purchased by the Australian Whitlam Government for the National Gallery of Australia for US$2 million (A$1.3 million at the time of payment). At the time, this was the highest price ever paid for a modern painting. In the conservative climate of the time, the purchase created a political and media scandal.

The painting is now one of the most popular exhibits in the gallery, and now is thought to be worth between $100 and $150 million, according to the latest news.cite news | url= http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=general&story_id=528424&category=General&m=11&y=2006 | title= Our Poles world's top-priced painting? | date=November 4, 2006 | work=The Canberra Times] It was a centrepiece of the Museum of Modern Art's 1999 retrospective in New York, the first time the painting had returned to America since its purchase.

References

External links

* [http://www.nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?IRN=36334&MnuID=2&GalID=1 "Blue Poles" at the National Gallery of Australia]
* [http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/pollock/ "Blue Poles" on loan at the National Gallery of Victoria]
* [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/11/1071125590423.html Article from Melbourne's "The Age" regarding "blue poles" at the National Museum of Australia]