The National Gallery of Australia presents a world-first opportunity to experience the full suite of 20 monumental tapestries by renowned Australian artist Arthur Boyd.
Arthur Boyd: Tapestries will be on display in Kamberri/Canberra from 20 June – 18 October 2026, marking the inaugural presentation of Boyd’s complete series which he created in collaboration with the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, Portugal.
The series, referred to as the Life of St Francis tapestries, comprises a cycle of 20 textiles produced between 1970 and 1974. Boyd commissioned the Manufactura to transform his pastel drawings into 2.5 by 3.4 metre tapestries and they were acquired for the national collection in 1975, soon after their completion.
The tapestries continued Boyd’s extensive artistic exploration of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, whom he learnt about as a child. Each large-scale tapestry depicts a scene in his retelling of the life of one of the most venerated figures in human history.
Woven at a scale more than 20 times larger than Boyd’s original source images, and each containing between 4 and 8.5 million stitches, the finished textiles are a testament to the collaborative process of artistic creation.
The exhibition presents the monumental tapestries alongside Boyd’s lithographs, pastels and drawings exploring the creative and technical processes involved in their translation across media.
“Arthur Boyd is a celebrated figure in Australian art, and his paintings are often hung in the country’s major public art museums – his tapestries, however, have received relatively little attention,” said Elspeth Pitt, Senior Curator, Australian Art, National Gallery.
“We welcome audiences to the exhibition to experience the sheer scale and technical expertise of the 20 works, which are a testament to Boyd’s artistry and the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre’s unique tapestry-making skills that are unlike any other in the world.”
Director of the Manufactura, Vera Fino – whose father, Guy Fino, was Director at the time of Boyd’s commission – has been a knowledgeable and supportive partner in the realisation of this exhibition and publication. The technical expertise and dedication of the Manufactura weavers also warrant prominent recognition in the provenance of these extraordinary tapestries.
“At the time of production – and maybe even still today – Arthur Boyd’s tapestries are the most complex the workshop had ever made, where we pushed the medium to its limits. The Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre is excited these will finally be on display in their entirety in Australia,” said Dr Vera Fino, Director, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre.
The National Gallery’s inaugural Director James Mollison AO recognised the brilliance of the Life of St Francis tapestry series and purchased it as one of many important early acquisitions for the national collection, alongside iconic works such as Jackson Pollock’s Blue poles, 1953 and Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series, 1946–47.
“The exhibition Arthur Boyd: Tapestries marks the first public display – more than 50 years after its creation – of the full series of Boyd’s tapestries,” said Dr Nick Mitzevich, Director, National Gallery.
“There are many acclaimed works of art in the national collection that are loved by the public however there are still corners of the collection where ‘undiscovered’ gems lie – and this series is one of those.”
“We look forward to welcoming visitors to the National Gallery this winter to experience these important works and discovering a different aspect of Boyd’s practice,” said Mitzevich.
Boyd’s interest in tapestry compelled his support of the Australian Tapestry Workshop, which was established in Naarm/Melbourne in 1976 and is now in its 50th year. A workshop space titled The Weavers’ Studio co-programmed with the Australian Tapestry Workshop within the exhibition gives opportunities for visitors to engage with a rich series of weaving-related talks and activities.
To celebrate the exhibition, a publication, Arthur Boyd: Tapestries, will explore this textile suite’s fascinating context and the story of their miraculous creation through Boyd’s collaboration with the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre in Portugal. The book includes full reproductions of the tapestries and essays by Elspeth Pitt and Adam Lindsay.
Arthur Boyd: Tapestries
National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place, Parkes, (ACT)
Exhibition: 20 June – 18 October 2026
Free entry
For more information, visit: www.nga.gov.au for details.
Images: Installation view, Arthur Boyd: Tapestries, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2026, featuring (left to right): Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, Juliana Calha (draughtsman (intermediary)), The gift of a lamb, 1974; Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, Lurdes Branquinho (draughtsman (intermediary)), St Clare showing her shaven head to her family, 1974, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust | Installation view, Arthur Boyd: Tapestries, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2026, featuring: Arthur Boyd, Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre, St Francis when young turning aside, 1972; St Francis being beaten by his father, 1973; St Francis when young dreaming of a hunchback, 1972, purchased 1975, Arthur Boyd’s work reproduced with the permission of Bundanon Trust