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Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has demanded the National Gallery of Australia remove her portrait from an exhibition by award-winning artist Vincent Namatjira.
The image, perhaps an unflattering snapshot of Australia’s richest woman, is one of 21 portraits that make up an artwork titled Australia in Color, which the gallery acquired as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations in 2022.
The work is on display as part of the Archibald Prize-winning artist’s first major retrospective, which opened in Canberra in March.
The National Gallery has rejected efforts to have the painting taken down and said in a statement that it welcomes public dialogue about its collection and displays.
“Since 1973, when the National Gallery acquired Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles, there has been a dynamic discussion about the artistic merits of works in the national collection and/or exhibited in the gallery,” it said.
“We bring artwork to the Australian public to inspire people to explore, experience and learn about art.”
Rinehart’s portrait sits alongside images of Queen Elizabeth II and footballer Adam Goodes and will be on display until July 21.
Before being shown in Canberra, the painting was on public display in Adelaide for months during the exhibition’s initial run at the Art Gallery of South Australia from October 2023 to January 2024.
SA Gallery has confirmed that it has not made any requests to remove the painting.
A reproduction of the image also forms part of a prestigious Thames & Hudson monograph on the work of Vincent Namatjira, published to accompany the survey show.
Rinehart is listed as a Friend of the National Gallery after donating between $4,999 and $9,999 to the institution.
She has been reached for comment through her company Hancock Prospecting.
In 2023, Rinehart withdrew her $15 million sponsorship of Netball Australia after local netballer Donnell Wallham requested that her uniform not carry the Hancock Prospecting logo.
Rinehart later established a $3 million fund to reward athletes who won gold medals or set world records in swimming, artistic swimming, rowing and volleyball.
In 2020, Namatjira became the first Aboriginal artist to win an Archibald Award with his portrait of former AFL player Adam Goodes, his paintings an attempt to change people’s perspectives by using satirical humor as a commentary on power.
For example, in one of his recent works included in the show, King Charles III stands in his regalia in the central desert, looking decidedly uncomfortable and out of place, as an artistic way of stripping the royal family of their power and rights.
Namatjira was born in Alice Springs and raised in foster care in Perth from the age of six, which meant losing his connection to family, country and culture.
He grew up unaware of his connection to famed watercolourist Albert Namatjira – Vincent is his great-grandson – until he was older, and was amazed to discover his artistic heritage and the meaning of his surname.
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