National Gallery of Australia - Canberra

With only a few leisure hours available on a recent work trip to Canberra, I decided a visit to the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) would be time well spent.

It was near 4 kilometre walk from my hotel on Northbourne Avenue in the city on a bright summer’s afternoon, across Commonwealth Bridge over Lake Burley Griffin and along Queen Elizabeth Terrace to the NGA. There was hardly a soul around except for a lone kayaker, and a couple on bicycles who made me wish I was on two wheels instead.

Lake Burley Griffin with National Library

National Gallery of Australia

The coolness of the gallery entrance way was a welcome relief and I was soon immersed into the world of art. The Sidney Nolan Ned Kelly series took me back to the time I spent in North East Victoria on Mt Buller, not far from Stringybark Creek and Mansfield where the Kelly gang legend evolved. 

Township 1947 - Mansfield

Death of Sergeant Kennedy at Stringybark Creek 1946

The NGA holds all but one of what is considered the greatest series of 20^th century Australian art. Painted in 1946-47, Nolan takes the viewer through the main events of the story of Ned Kelly and his gang, ending with Kelly’s trial where he was sentenced to hang.

Ned Kelly series by Sidney Nolan

The Colonial viewpoints exhibition displayed an array of 19^th century portraiture of colonists and indigenous Australians. A magnificent John Glover painting depicts the two spheres of early colonial life in Hobart, with Aboriginal people going about their daily lives on the eastern shore and red-coated soldiers on the opposite side of the Derwent River: the majestic Mt Wellington looms in the background.

Mt Wellington and Hobart Town from Kangaroo Point 1834

Arthur Streeton was a key figure in the Australian Impressionism movement in the 1880’s, where artists found joy in a sense of place. Golden Summer, Eaglemont is considered a masterpiece of this style and was painted during a summer drought depicting the undulating plains in rural Heidelberg outside of Melbourne.

Golden Summer, Eaglemont 1889

Viennese-born Eugene von Guérard arrived in Australia in 1852 and is arguably the most important colonial landscape artist of the mid-19th century. His North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko reveals his meticulous topographical accuracy and his interest in scientific endeavour.

 North-east view from the northern top of Mount Kosciusko 1866

The Isolation + loss gallery shows Russell Drysdale’s The drover’s wife depicted in the harsh, dry flatness of Australia’s interior (Western NSW) during the drought of 1944.  

The drover's wife 

Continuing to feel inspired I forked out the $20 to see the Tom Roberts Exhibition, which is on until 28 March. I listened in on the 2.00pm free daily tour from time to time, but was quite content to wander of my own accord. Tom Roberts (1856-1931) is one of Australia’s best-known artists. He produced broad ranging works that included landscapes, portraits, and industrial and city scapes. Although born in England, he spent almost half his life in Australia, making a major contribution to the creative depiction of the land. He was part of the legendary group of Australian Impressionists that included Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton and Charles Conder and had a major impact on his contemporaries and later Australian artists.

Aboriginal women (Mariah) painted at Yulgilbar station 1895 

The golden fleece 1894

His depictions of sheep stations are iconic, but his most historically important work is what is known as the Big Picture. Measuring 5.65 metres across and 3.6 metres tall, The Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York, 9 May 1901 is painted on three separate pieces of cavasses stitched together and took two years to complete. Roberts travelled extensively within Australia and to London to produce individual portrait sketches in order to provide correct representations, as commissioned to do so. It’s an impressive oil painting.

My feet were getting weary by this stage but I wanted to check out the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art collection. The collection is displayed by geographic region or an aspect of indigenous art. Being a watercolour fan I admired the work of Albert Namatjira and those who learnt from him.

Typical Albert Namatjira scene of Central Australia

The designs, patterns and stories depicted on various mediums were striking in their detail and colouring, but the painting that most caught my eye was from Tropical North Queensland titled ‘Monsoon rain on the Lockhart River’ by Rosella Namok. Stunning.

Monsoon rain on the Lockhart River

There is so much to see at the NGA, but there is only so much one can see and take in in an afternoon. After a quick look at Jackson Pollack’s infamous Blue Poles (purchased amid much controversy in 1973) I took a stroll through some of the sculpture garden before retracing my steps back to the city. 

Blue Pole bought for $1.3 million in 1973

Henry Moore sculpture with the Carillon in background