The Commonwealth has been granted an option on the painting by its owner, New York collector and textile magnate Ben Heller.
The painting is understood to have been approved by the acquisitions committee responsible for the selection of works of art for the National Gallery in Canberra.
However, the deal cannot be concluded until further funds are allocated to the expansion of the national collection. The 1973-74 allocation will be announced in tomorrow’s budget.
Informed sources suggest that those responsible for establishing the national collection will not be disappointed in their requests for a substantial increase in funds for the current financial year. However even with such an increase the Pollock will take a sizable slice of the allocation.
If the acquisition arouses any criticism it will largely centre on that fact.
But there is hardly likely to be any partisan criticism of the acquisition as the purchase represents no more than a continuation of the policy pursued under the Liberal - Country Party administration of concentrating on masterpieces.
Nonetheless there have been rumbles of criticism within the Labor party of the amount being allocated to the arts and pleas for more funds to be spent on sport and recreation. Critics are likely to pick up the published fact that Ben Hellar paid only $US36,000 for the painting.
It is felt that Mr Heller, a wealthy art connoisseur in deciding to sell is likely to have been more impressed by the quality of the of the works the painting will hang alongside than the offer.
With many Pollocks gone to the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of New York, Mr Heller is likely to have wished it also to have a good home.
Recent purchases by the National Gallery have already established that the art gallery will become a gallery of international standing.
(One major critic said of the work ) "It contains everything within itself, begging no quarter, a world of sentiment implied; a mass of sensual freedom, a careening licentiousness, guarded by eight totems native to its origins.
…. Critic Bryan Robertson likened its full blooded richness to Stravinsky's Petroucha.
The painting is oil, duco and aluminium on canvas and measure 83 by 192 ½ inches.
Some of Pollock’s works have suffered badly because of the artificial (!) paints he used.
However, Blue Poles is believed to be in excellent condition.
The NGV’s highest expenditure was $48,000 (for an Old Master) and the Art Gallery of NSW paid $200,000 recently for a Bonnard.
A Sydney collector paid $130,000 for a Claude Lorrain to set what is believed to be a record price paid for a work of art by an Australian collector. Prices of public and private acquisitions have not of course always been reported.
The world auction record for an American work of art is held by Steelworkers - Noontime by Thomas Pollock Anshulz which sold for $US250,000 at Sotheby’s Parke Bernet in New York last October.
It is quite possible that a number of American paintings have been sold through galleries for more.
But it is unlikely that any other American painting has been sold for as much as the Pollock.
This is the first article in a sub-series where the subject is museums and galleries.
Authors Note: Use of (?) and (!) indicate author uncertainties after reviewing the article 47 years later.
