Sculpture Garden

Media Kit

Photograph of trees and fog in garden

Fujiko Nakaya, Foggy wake in a desert: An ecosphere, 1982, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1977 © Fujiko Nakaya

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Madison Du
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E madison.du@nga.gov.au

The grounds that lie between the National Gallery and the shores of Lake Burley Griffin were configured to display the Gallery's extensive collection of sculpture.

After a few years in the planning, earthworks and plantings commenced on the National Gallery sculpture garden in 1981. Harry Howard and Associates and James Mollison, the Gallery's first Director, designed this garden to complement the building. The diagonal of the main pathway and the floor plan of the garden repeats the triangular architecture of the main building.

The innovative landscape design included a set of 'outside rooms' plantings that showcased 26 sculptures made by international and Australian artists. Most of the sculptures were bought and placed in the garden during the early 1980s and reflect the abstract, industrial aesthetic of that time, however there are some works that are more evocative, for example the fog sculpture by Fujiko Nakaya and the Pukamani burial poles nearby. Antony Gormley's life-sized maquette for Angel of the North which faces the lake, was a significant addition in 2010.

The plants are native to Australia and were selected for their tolerance of Canberra's severe winter conditions and long hot dry summers. The seasons of the year form the main design structure with the Winter garden close to the building with warm winter slate and winter flowering acacias and the earliest figurative works of art. The Summer garden is the shady area beneath the Casuarinas and near the marsh pond. The Spring garden, full of spring flowering Grevilleas and Acacias is closer to the lake. The Autumn garden was never fully realised.

Fujiko Nakaya's fog sculpture Foggy wake in a desert: An ecosphere is in operation 12.30pm – 2pm daily.

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  • Linda Marrinon, Woman in jumpsuit, 2022, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Commissioned with the generous support of Art Makers. Image courtesy of Linda Marrinon and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery.

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  • A gum tree has an oval section of bark removed and a delicate design has been carved into it in lines

    Dr Matilda House and Paul Girrawah House, Ngambri (Walgalu) – Wallaballooa (Ngunnawal) – Pajong (Gundungurra) – Wiradjuri (Erambie) peoples, Mulanggari yur-wang (alive and strong), 2021–22, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Ngambri/Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony, purchased 2021, image courtesy and © the artists

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  • Photograph of trees and fog in garden

    Fujiko Nakaya, Foggy wake in a desert: An ecosphere, 1982, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1977 © Fujiko Nakaya

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  • A colour photo of a copper coloured looped sculpture

    Clement Meadmore, Virginia, 1970, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1973 © Meadmore Sculptures, LLC. VAGA/Copyright Agency

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  • A photograph of seven alternating silver chrome cones

    Bert Flugelman, Cones, 1982, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, commissioned 1976. Purchased 1982. © Bert Flugelman

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  • a large spherical metal sculpture with engraved markings sitting within a garden

    Thanakupi (Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher AO), Dhaynagwidh/Thaynakwith people, Eran, 2010, acquired through the Founding Donors' Fund 2010 © the estate of the artist, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd.

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  • Antony Gormley, Angel of the North (life-size maquette), 1996, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, gift of James and Jacqui Erskine 2009 © the artist

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  • Photograph of bronze sculpture in a garden

    Emile Bourdelle, Penelope, 1912, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1976

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  • A large structural steel art piece in a garden

    Mark di Suvero, Ik ook, 1971-72, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1979 © Courtesy of the artist and Spacetime CC

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  • Steel structure of an orangutan foot sitting in a garden

    Lisa Roet, Orangutan Foot, 2007-2008, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, gift of Richard and Jan Frolich 2015. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program. © Lisa Roet

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  • High angle view of sculpture garden at the National Gallery

    National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, Photographer: Rory Gardiner © National Gallery of Australia, 2023

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  • 5 steel structures against a backdrop of greenery

    Installation view Auguste Rodin, Nude study for Jean d'Aire, 1885-86 cast 1973, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1974, Photographer: Rory Gardiner © National Gallery of Australia, 2023

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  • Steel work of art depicting a woman lying on the ground

    Installation view Tracey Emin, When I sleep, 2018, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021 © Tracey Emin/Copyright Agency, Photographer: Rory Gardiner © National Gallery of Australia, 2023

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  • Steel work of art sitting in a garden

    Installation view Clement Meadmore, Virginia, 1970, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1973 © Meadmore Sculptures, LLC. VAGA/Copyright Agency, Photographer: Rory Gardiner © National Gallery of Australia, 2023

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  • Installation view Bert Flugelman, Cones, 1982, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, commissioned 1976. Purchased 1982. © Bert Flugelman, Photographer: Rory Gardiner © National Gallery of Australia, 2023

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