Image: Jackson Pollock Blue poles 1952. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra. Purchased 1973. © Pollock-Krasner Foundation. ARS/Copyright Agency, 2026.
Jackson Pollock’s ‘Blue poles’ will be exhibited in Western Australia for the first time next year, with the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) presenting the painting on loan from the National Gallery of Australia. The work will be on view at AGWA in Perth from 30 April to 5 September 2027 as part of the Australian national gallery’s Sharing the National Collection program.
Painted in 1952, ‘Blue poles’ is a major example of Pollock’s poured-paint technique. Stretching almost five metres across, the composition is structured by eight bold blue-black vertical forms set against a field of drips, splashes and rhythmic movement. The painting was originally titled ‘Number 11, 1952’.
The work was made at a pivotal point in Pollock’s career and is described by AGWA as one of his last major abstract paintings. It became part of the National Gallery of Australia’s collection in 1973, when the Australian Government bought it for $1.3 million—a record price at the time for an American painting. The purchase prompted a national debate about public spending, artistic value and Australia’s cultural ambitions.
‘Blue poles’ is now regarded as one of Australia’s most treasured artworks. AGWA states that the painting is valued at more than $500 million and is the most viewed artwork in the National Gallery of Australia’s history. Its presentation in Western Australia will extend the work’s national circulation beyond its usual home in Canberra.
Although the painting toured Australia in 1974, it did not reach Western Australia. Since then, opportunities to see it outside Canberra have been rare. AGWA records presentations at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at the Tate and Royal Academy of Arts in London, but the forthcoming AGWA exhibition will be the first time the work has been shown in the state.
AGWA said the presentation will be accompanied by public events, talks and community-engagement activities intended to deepen understanding of Pollock’s legacy and the painting’s place in Australian cultural history. The exhibition will be free to visit at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Cultural Centre, which is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
