In a world first for the National Gallery of Australia, a complete collection of 20 monumental tapestries by renowned artist Arthur Boyd has gone on display in Canberra.
The winter exhibition, Arthur Boyd: Tapestries, and the beautiful book accompanying it, illuminate one of the Australian artist’s most ambitious artistic undertakings.
Boyd commissioned the tapestries, depicting the Life of St Francis, from the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, Portugal, between 1970 and 1974.
Each 2.5 metre by 3.4 metre tapestry is a scene in the artist’s retelling of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Woven at a scale more than 20 times larger than Boyd’s original pastels, and each containingbetween 4 and 8.5 million stitches, the tapestries are extraordinary, not only for their vivid colours and imagination, but also for their remarkable craftsmanship and precision.
All of the work was done by hand with the weavers generally working from small reference images rather than the original artworks, painstakingly matching colours and textures and creating only three centimetres a day.
The National Gallery purchased the collection in 1975 but until now, it has never been displayed in its entirety.
The Director of the National Gallery, Dr Nick Mitzevich, said bringing the complete collection together was a “passion project”. It was a passion project for those interested in the work of Boyd, and a “passion project for people who believe in the power of spirituality”.
Exhibition curator Elspeth Pitt said Boyd “wasn’t particularly religious but Saint Francis was a touchpoint through his life”.
A 14-minute documentary screening with the exhibition refers to the empathy, values and sense of justice Boyd displayed from an early age, and the fascination he had had with Saint Francis who he learnt about as a child.
Dr Vera Fino, whose father Guy was director of the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre at the time of Boyd’s commission, was a guest at the opening of the exhibition in Canberra. She spoke of her pride in seeing the collection displayed and in the achievements of the workshop, of which she is the current director.
“The tapestries are pieces that always bring beauty and comfort to where they are placed,” she said. To this day, the commission remains the most complex project the workshop has ever undertaken, “where we pushed the medium to its limits”, she said.
Prior to the Boyd commission, the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre had worked with Australian artist John Olsen. Boyd’s interest in tapestry compelled his support of the Australian Tapestry Workshop, established in Melbourne in 1976.
The Australian Tapestry Workshop subsequently produced the monumental Great Hall Tapestry designed by Boyd for Parliament House in Canberra. The 9.18 metre by 19.9 metre Great Hall Tapestry represents a forest of eucalyptus trees from Boyd’s rural retreat, Bundanon, in the New South Wales Shoalhaven region.
Anyone who has visited Boyd’s studio at Bundanon will likely make a beeline to see the Tapestries exhibition. For those who haven’t visited Bundanon, do put it on your agenda — it’s a beautiful property and will add to your appreciation of Arthur Boyd’s work.
Displayed alongside the tapestries in Canberra are lithographs, pastels and drawings that demonstrate the creative and technical processes involved in their translation across media.
Boyd’s relationship with the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre is highlighted from the very beginning of the exhibition, with visitors greeted by a complete wall of video footage of the workshop’s weavers at work. It is completely mesmerizing and hard to take your eyes off their busy hands.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the National Gallery has partnered with the Australian Tapestry Workshop to host a series of weaving-related activities. The Weavers’ Studio is a free drop-in space open from 10am to 5pm daily, where visitors can try their hand at weaving, experimenting with colour, texture and pattern.
There’ll also be talks, workshops and live demonstrations. Visit the National Gallery of Australia website for a list of events.
Arthur Boyd: Tapestries is on display at the National Gallery of Australia until 18 October 2026. The exhibition is free.
If you enjoyed this post, you might like to read our post on The Magic of Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon.
