CANBERRA.- The NGA is changing, in many fundamental ways. With the rehang of the nation’s art collection underway, the NGA will celebrate one of Australia’s greatest artists with a spectacular Tom Roberts exhibition opening on Friday 4 December. Tickets are on sale today.

Tom Roberts will bring together major works from public and private collections, from the early days studying at London’s Royal Academy in 1883 until 1931. Featuring over 130 works of art, the exhibition is remarkable in its ambition and scope, and is set to be unveiled together with a complete rehang of the national collection.

‘We have commenced an ambitious project to transform the experience at the NGA’ said Gerard Vaughan, Director. ‘Every time you visit the Gallery there will be new discoveries as we constantly revitalise the galleries dedicated to the permanent collection. The Tom Roberts exhibition, which explores the idea of truly Australian imagery in the lead up to Federation—from Shearing the rams to A break away!—is a must see for all Australians, and especially school students.’

The paintings by Tom Roberts are some of the most recognisable and loved by Australians. His vision of life in Australia helped to define our visual culture. He was among the first to promote outdoor landscape painting and his Impressionist landscapes set the tone for much that was to follow. Roberts’ seminal painting, which he called the ‘Big Picture’ will be shown with his other major works. The enormous painting, 3 by 5 metres, captures recognisable portraits of 265 dignitaries at the Federation of Australia ceremony in May of 1901. This is the first time the painting has moved since it was hung in Parliament House in 1988.

In announcing the exhibition, Minister for the Arts, Senator the Hon. George Brandis QC said ‘The Tom Roberts exhibition is a chance for every Australian to see some of the greatest art ever produced in this country. The NGA is very much the heart of Australian art and come December, visitors will have a chance to engage with our whole visual arts culture in new ways, through the NGA’s extensive rehang.’

With over 130 works, the exhibition includes paintings, pastels, drawings, prints and sculpture; 53 portraits, 53 landscapes, his famous national narratives, still-lifes, nudes and figures in landscape.

‘Roberts strongly believed that a great painting of one time and place could be an expression for all time and of all places—and this could not be truer of any other Australian artist’s work.’ said Dr Anna Gray, Curator of Tom Roberts.

The rehang includes moving the entire Australian collection downstairs, and while many favourites and highlights will remain, there will also be new works. International art, including Jackson Pollock’s famous Blue Poles (1952), will move upstairs into refurbished gallery spaces.