American artist Jackson Pollock’s action painting masterpiece, Blue Poles, which holds a controversial place in Australia’s art and political history, will be loaned to the Royal Academy of Arts in the UK for their exhibition Abstract Expressionism.

Bought by Gough Whitlam in 1973 for $1.3 million, Blue Poles is one of the National Gallery of Australia’s most significant artworks. It caused a furore when the then Prime Minister bought it at a price that set a world record for the purchase of a contemporary American painting. Sydney’s Daily Mirror ran a headline at the time, “Barefoot drunks painted our $1m masterpiece.” It is now estimated to be worth as much as $100 million (though estimates vary widely) and is one of the centre-pieces of the NGA’s collection.

Transporting the artwork halfway around the world is no mean feat. “It’s checked at every stage. As it comes off display here at the National Gallery, as it travels in a special, climate-controlled crate, and as it arrives at the Royal Academy in London,” NGA Senior Curator Linda Ward told the ABC, “It also travels with its own conservator, who is there if we have any concerns.” In London, Blue Poles will feature alongside...