The styles may be wide-ranging, and the content globe-spanning, but the National Gallery takes most pride in its stunning collections of native Australian art.
Australia – one of the world's youngest nations, with one of its oldest cultures – has sparked some remarkable art. It is inspired by that fusion of old and new, city and outback. And the mission of the National Gallery of Australia has been to collect, distil and broadcast its brilliance. The National has also made a name for itself as a premier collector of traditional art forms, especially from neglected Pacific Island and Asian cultures. And along the way, it has built a respected portfolio of Western art, from both America and Europe. Come to this gallery on Canberra's lakeside Parkes Place, and you're in for a rare visual treat.
Two collections stand out for most visitors: the bold primacy of the Aborigine and Torres Strait Island collection and the evocative and vibrant paintings of the Australian collection. The styles and approaches may be eras apart, but some of the best of Australian art has come from one of these, that has informed the other. The Australian collection covers the art of the settlers, and the strands of Impressionism, Colonial, Surrealism and Modern. Many fine works from New Zealand's foremost artists are included too.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection is arranged around a challenging piece – the 200 Aborigine log-coffins that mark 200 years of resistance and death among Australia's first peoples, as they struggled with colonisation. Many contemporary Aborigine pieces are included here, such as the Desert Painting movement of the 1970s, and the Hermannsburg watercolours of central Australia.
Figures of the Buddha and Buddhist saints, Hindu gods and goddesses, and many mythical creatures are displayed in the Asian collection. It also has hundreds of Islamic, Jain, Animist and Christian sculptures, as well as spectacular textiles from Indonesia. The Gallery is particularly proud of its Monets, in the Western art collection, but also stretches to the surreal via the abstract and the conceptual. And if your head isn't already reeling from all that visual diversity, the sculpture garden outside will set it off. Its collection ranges from the metallic forms of Henry Moore's to the fog sculptures of Fujiko Nakaya. There really is something for everyone at the National Gallery.
