A painting by much-loved Australian artist Margaret Olley will soon go on display at the Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre thanks to the Australian Government's Sharing the National Collection program.
White still life, 1977, will be on display at the Margaret Olley Art Centre, which is dedicated to celebrating Olley's life and career and houses a recreation of her famous home art studio.
White still life will join three other works by Olley, and Giorgio Morandi's Natura Morta [Still Life] currently on loan to Tweed through the program.
Margaret Olley (1923 - 2011) was born in Lismore, NSW, and is remembered as one of Australia's great painters of still life and interiors.
Painted in the kitchen of her friend, artist David Strachan, White still life is an example of Olley's experimentation with natural light. The composition captures the light moving through Strachan's home, a place she was inspired to paint many times.
Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, said the loan would enrich the Tweed Regional Gallery's homage to Olley.
"There's no more appropriate place for this work of art than the Margaret Olley Art Centre.
"At any point, 98 per cent of our national collection is held in storage. Sharing the National Collection gets works like White still life out into communities across the country, where they can contribute to local arts and culture."
Federal Member for Richmond Justine Elliot said the Tweed Regional Gallery was world-class and so it was fitting that it was selected to display Margaret Olley's White still life through the Albanese Labor Government's Sharing the National Collection program.
"As one of her masterpieces, it really adds to the collection of her work at the gallery and I'm delighted it will be shared with our community over the next two years.
"As your local MP, I'm also proud to have delivered $1 million in federal funding towards building the Margaret Olley Art Centre," she said.
Director of the National Gallery, Dr Nick Mitzevich, said the loan was a showcase of the artist's extraordinary talent.
"White still life is a remarkable demonstration of Olley's ability to capture the fleeting beauty of the everyday.
"Bringing Olley's work to the Tweed Regional Gallery encapsulates the spirit and purpose of Sharing the National Collection. Olley was a great champion of regional galleries and had an enduring connection to the Northern Rivers' region, making the Tweed's Margaret Olley Art Centre the perfect place for White still life for the next two years."
Ingrid Hedgcock, Director of the Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre, said the Gallery was the custodian of Olley's enduring legacy.
"White still life, 1977 is a significant work among Olley's rich oeuvre, and we are delighted that the Sharing the National Collection program enables this painting to be experienced by visitors to the Margaret Olley Art Centre in Murwillumbah."
Sharing the National Collection is part of Revive, Australia's National Cultural Policy.
The program has provided $11.8 million over four years to fund the costs of transporting, installing and insuring works in the national art collection so that they can be seen right across the country.
Suburban, regional, and remote galleries can register their interest in the loan program here.
