When the National Gallery of Australia, with the approval of the then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, bought Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles for $1.3 million in 1973, the Philistines yelped. Twenty-two years later, even on the Philistines’ own measure … money … it has been a success. It is now worth $30 million … a far better investment than most money-management funds.
Of more importance, though, the possession of Blue Poles is proving to be an entree card for Australia. It has been requested by the New York Museum of Modern Art to be part of a career retrospective on Pollock next year and the Gallery is giving the request serious consideration. The Tate Gallery in London has also sought access.
It means, of course, that if we lend the painting, Australian requests to borrow masterpieces from New York and London will be given more favourable treatment. The purchase of the painting helps put Australia on the world’s art map.
There is a lesson here for other fields, especially science. Australia must pursue excellence … whether home-grown or imported. It is a valuable investment. If Australia pursues world-class excellence, whether in collecting abstract art or in cutting edge science, it opens international doors far more valuable than the initial investment. We should not listen to the narrow-minded ones that begrudge the down payments.