“‘His knowledge of the works in our collection was extraordinary, and he instantly understood the arc of art history and the way that we’ve deployed the collection to tell that story,’ Mitzevich says.
“He stopped in front of #BluePoles and said ‘Oh, well, this is one of the most important works of the 20th century, and you’ve hung it next to [a work by #Pollock’s wife Lee Krasner], oh and look at the de Kooning in dialogue’. And he was equally fascinated by things that he hadn’t seen before, like #SidneyNolan’s #NedKelly [series].” A)
VS
“In 2016 a new #Liberal senator, a mere stripling of twenty-eight years, had a foolproof idea for getting himself noticed. #JamesPaterson told the media the government should sell #JacksonPollock’s #abstract #expressionist masterpiece, Blue Poles.
“Some people feel like they’ve got a real attachment to Blue Poles, and I understand that,” said Paterson, who had come to parliament from the free-market #InstituteofPublicAffairs. “I don’t think it’s a good enough reason for the Australian government to tie up such a significant amount of #money in a single painting which is hung in a #gallery in #Canberra most of the year, and which most #Australians won’t ever see face to face in their #lifetimes. It’ll only be #worth something to #taxpayers when we #sell it.” B)
This is why we vote. 🗳️
#Art / #Artists / #value / #IntrinsicWorth A) <https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/australia-seems-incredibly-sane-compared-to-almost-any-place-in-the-world-20250224-p5lerw?collection=p5lvsj> (paywall) ==> / <https://archive.md/LJZbz> / B) <https://insidestory.org.au/a-finishing-school-for-the-nation/>
