‘We never thought we’d have a Monet on our farm’: $174m artwork heads to regional Australian gallery

Mon, 4 Dec 2023 04:18:40 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/nov/02/we-never-thought-wed-have-a-monet-on-our-farm-174m-artwork-heads-to-regional-australian-gallery>

"In late October an armoured van travelled through the flat cane fields of the
Tweed Valley, in northern New South Wales. Carrying its precious cargo past
tractors ploughing the earth after the cane burn-off, the fortified van came to
a stop in what was, until relatively recently, a cow paddock.

It was here in this bucolic setting that a $174m impressionist masterpiece, in
a specialised crate to insulate it from heat and vibration, was unloaded into
the Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre at Murwillumbah.

Claude Monet’s Meules, milieu du jour (Haystacks, midday), one of the world’s
most famous artworks and a jewel in the crown of Australia’s national
collection, is the first in a new federal government initiative to share works
from the National Gallery of Australia with small regional galleries around the
country.

“We never thought we would have a Monet on our farm,” said Margot Anthony, who
with her late husband, Doug, the former leader of the National party, donated
the land on which the gallery is built.

Over the fence, the Anthonys’ cattle continued grazing, oblivious to the import
of the occasion."

Share and enjoy,
               *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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