On a fine Canberra evening, on October 12, 1982, Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip were among the first people to visit the newly opened National Gallery of Australia. They were so impressed the night fell well behind schedule - and it was being broadcast live - their tour alongside then director James Mollison and chairman Gordon Darling took in the international and primitive art displays and they spent a good amount of time in front of the controversial Blue Poles.
"I have seen a country moving confidently into the future," she said in her speech, "secure in the knowledge that a people rich with talent and full of enterprise and industry, together with a land abundant in resources, form an unstoppable combination ... Nothing could better demonstrate the enhanced standing of Australia than this fine National Gallery."
