Ishtar Queen of the Night meets Jackson Pollock - Blue Poles (or also called Number 11) (1952)
Description
This
painting is entitled Blue Poles or also called Number 11 (1952).
This work is a masterpiece of Jackson Pollock which is stored in the National
Gallery of Australia and is one of the major works held in the National Gallery
of Australia. When this work was purchased in 1973 by the National Gallery of
Australia, there was great controversy due to its high price tag of around 1.3
million dollars. Director of the National Gallery of Australia James Mollison
could not immediately buy this work because it was worth more than one million
dollars, so he had to ask the then Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam
for permission. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam signed the authorization to
purchase this work and it was later exhibited at the National Gallery of
Australia, also a proud collection of the National Gallery of Australia. Due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Gallery of Australia was closed for a long
time in 2020. This opportunity was used by the National Gallery of Australia to
conserve a number of the gallery's masterpieces so that the stored works would
not be damaged. This conservation project is called the Blue Poles Project,
named after Pollock's work stored in this gallery.