Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has gifted a portrait of herself to be hung at the National Portrait Gallery, Senate estimates has heard.
Gallery director Bree Pickering told a hearing today a portrait by artist Alex Korte was gifted by Ms Rinehart and accepted by the gallery’s board.
But the work is not hanging in the gallery, as Ms Rinehart has attached conditions relating to how it should be displayed.
“Those conditions are currently under negotiation, but because of those conditions we haven’t been able to formally accept and accession the work into the collection,” Ms Pickering said.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked Ms Pickering if Ms Rinehart was happy with the newly gifted portrait, after it was previously revealed a request had been made to have a different painting of her removed from the National Gallery of Australia.
“The gift came from her, so she’s quite happy with it,” Ms Pickering replied
Ms Pickering confirmed Ms Rinehart wanted the portrait to be hung in a particular way.
The National Portrait Gallery told the ABC it was unable to send a copy of Ms Korte’s artwork.
Her husband, Gary Korte, is the Chief Executive Officer of Ms Rinehart’s mining company Hancock Prospecting.
Yesterday, Ms Rinehart topped the Australian Financial Review’s list as the richest person in Australia for the fifth year in a row, with the publication listing her wealth at $40.61 billion.
Portrait controversy boosts visitor numbers
Earlier this month, it emerged that the nearby National Gallery of Australia had received multiple requests to remove a portrait of Ms Rinehart, which formed part of an exhibition by Archibald Prize winning artist Vincent Namatjira.
Swimming Queensland confirmed at the time it was the source of one of the complaints, calling the portrait “offensive” and “unflattering”.
The exhibition, titled Australia In Colour, features the portrait of Ms Rinehart alongside prominent figures such as Cathy Freeman, Adam Goodes, Scott Morrison, Julia Gillard, King Charles and many more.
It was curated for the Art Gallery of South Australia, which showed it for months last year.
That gallery had previously told the ABC it received no complaints about the portrait.
Mr Namatjira has defended his work, saying “he paints the world as he sees it”.
Today in Senate estimates, Director of the National Gallery of Australia Nick Mitzevich confirmed the gallery had received eight requests to remove the work.
However Mr Mitzevich refused to confirm if Ms Rinehart herself made any of the complaints, telling the hearing the gallery did not reveal personal details about those who provided feedback.
“We don’t disclose, for privacy reasons, the identity of anyone who’s providing feedback to the national gallery,” Mr Mitzevich said.
In addition to the eight requests, Mr Mitzevich said the gallery received 125 pieces of feedback about the Vincent Namatjira exhibition, 74 of which were positive, four neutral and 47 negative.
Mr Mitzevich also confirmed that visitor numbers to the gallery and to see the Vincent Namatjira exhibition increased dramatically following media reports about the requests to remove Ms Rinehart’s portrait.
“Since the story was published on the Vincent Namatjira exhibition visitor numbers have increased 24 per cent,” he said.
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