The feature artwork outside the National Gallery of Australia is changing again with the seemingly gravity-defying sculpture Broken obelisk heading to the South Coast for five years.
The towering work by American artist Barnett Newman will be transported to the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery in Nowra, where it will remain on loan for five years.
The seven-metre, three-and-a-half tonne sculpture titled Broken obelisk is the latest major loan under the Federal Government's Sharing the National Collection program.
Broken obelisk replaced the pears sculpture, George Baldessin's Pear - version number 2 in the forecourt of the NGA in 2018.
Arts Minister Tony Burke will be among those attending the unveiling of Broken obelisk in Nowra next Friday, February 16.
"Most of the pieces involved in Sharing the National Collection are works that were otherwise being held in storage - but not this one," he said.
"The Shoalhaven Regional Gallery will have the distinction of displaying the work that has been in pride of place at the front of the National Gallery of Australia for years."
Sharing the National Collection is part of Revive, Australia's new national cultural policy, with $11.8m over four years to fund the costs of transporting, installing and insuring works in the national art collection so that they can be seen across the country for extended periods.
National Gallery of Australia director Dr Nick Mitzevich, said he was thrilled to share the statement work by Barnett Newman with new audiences.
"The gift by The Barnett Newman Foundation of Broken obelisk to the National Gallery provided the national collection with one of its most distinctive examples of twentieth century American art.
"I am very proud that this masterwork is one of the inaugural loans under the Sharing the National Collection initiative.
"This loan provides another opportunity for the National Gallery to celebrate the dynamic breadth of the collection while creating a new chapter in the story of this sculpture."
