4 April 2012

The Art Gallery of New South Wales today was one of six galleries in Australia to join the international Google Art Project, a unique collaboration with some of the world’s best known art institutions. The project enables people to view thousands of artworks in extraordinary detail from anywhere in the world.

The Art Gallery of NSW, through Google, launched 415 of its key works, covering every aspect of the Gallery’s collection – including works from the 19th and 20th century Australian, Asian, Indigenous and European collections and international and Australian contemporary art. More than 250 of these works are accessible via the 3D museum-view walkthrough.

Anne Flanagan, acting director, Art Gallery of NSW, said, “The Google Art Project has enabled us to be just one of six galleries in Australia to showcase our most iconic and popular works. Never before have we been able to get so close to the artwork: almost beyond what the human eye can see.”

One of the Gallery’s best-loved works, Fire’s on by 19th century artist Arthur Streeton, has been captured in gigapixel detail and therefore will allow viewers to explore the painting in a way that hasn’t been possible before. Another iconic work, Untitled 1998 by Indigenous artist Timmy Payungka Tjapangati is another highlight for this project.

“To think, that while a person here at the Gallery is viewing a work, someone else, anywhere in the world, can also be viewing the same work with such crystal-clear definition,” said Anne Flanagan.

Art Gallery of NSW works represented in the Art Project include Agnolo Bronzino Cosimo l de’ Medici in armour, John Brack Barry Humphries in the character of Mrs Everage, Mabel Juli Garnkiny Ngarrangkarni, Sol LeWitt Wall drawing #1091: arcs, circles and bands and Del Kathryn Barton Come of things.

Other artists include John Constable, Gustave Courbet, Ford Madox Brown and Eugène Delacroix, and Australian artists Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, Charles Conder, Russell Drysdale, E Phillips Fox, Janet Laurence, Rosalie Gasgoine, Michael Landy, Timmy Payungka Tjapangati and Barrupu Yunupingu.

The aim of the Google Art Project is to transform how art is viewed and to make art universally accessible. Phase 1, launched in February 2011, included 17 cultural institutions in 11 cities and 9 countries, resulting in 1061 artworks from 461 artists. More than 12 million visits to the Art Project website resulted in the first 3 months. This year 151 cultural institutions in 40 countries were part of the project.

To view the Art Gallery of NSW works, visit www.googleartproject.com