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.
The soft, pastel European summer palette of Meules, milieu du jour lies in stark contrast to the harsh climate of searing sun and flooding rain in which it will reside for the next two years. The painting is one of 30 in the series painted by the French artist of the stacks of wheat in a field behind his house in Giverny, as he explored the light and atmosphere across the seasons. Unveiled on Wednesday morning, the painting looked a bit lonely on the wall, seeming to shimmer in its own light, as people peered up close at the brushstrokes.
The initiative, Sharing the National Collection, is part of Revive, Australia’s new national cultural policy, with $11.8m committed over four years to fund the costs of transporting, installing and insuring works so they can be seen across the country. Logistics are handled by the National Gallery but the security surrounding the painting remains shrouded in secrecy.
“I honestly believe that sharing the collection will prove to be the singular most important thing the National Gallery has ever done after acquiring [Jackson Pollock’s] Blue Poles,” said Alison Kubler, a member of the National Gallery of Australia council.
Kubler said sending Meules, milieu du jour to the Tweed Regional Gallery was “sort of a no-brainer for us”.
“When the request came in, it was like the most fun thing ever as a council to say, ‘yes, let’s send that one on the road’,” she said. “You are going to see extraordinary things go to extraordinary places that you will not expect to see them.”
Adam Lindsay, the deputy director of the National Gallery, said there have been 54 expressions of interest from different institutions around Australia. “Nothing is off limits … The whole collection is on offer,” he said.
The Monet unveiling was the swan song of the Tweed Regional Gallery director, Susi Muddiman, who leaves the role after 16 years to take up a position at Gold Coast’s Hota. Muddiman said she chose Meules, milieu du jour because “our collection has a regional focus. And given our rural environment, we thought it was a wonderful opportunity to pitch for something international”.
The process, she says, was surprisingly easy. “The minister announced the program towards the end of May, so it was pretty quick for a government.”
Four more significant paintings will arrive at Tweed gallery in February: Giorgio Morandi’s Natura morta and three Margaret Olley works.
Sending an international artwork to a tiny gallery in a paddock, 7km from a smallish country town, is “not really an altruistic gesture”, Kubler said.
“The work belongs to the National Gallery of Australia, which means it belongs to you,” she says. “This collection belongs to all Australians – it is yours, unequivocally.”