Cézanne the modernist influencer in NGA blockbuster
Modernist artworks from Germany's Museum Berggruen are on show in Australia for the first time, including big names such as Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso.
Cézanne to Giacometti: Highlights from Museum Berggruen is the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra's winter blockbuster show.
The museum collection has been touring internationally while its Berlin building is closed for renovation, and the exhibition has already visited half a dozen cities and been viewed by about a million people.
But the Australian version is different - it's no out-of-the-box show, instead integrating art from giants of European modernism with works by Australian artists.
The result is a story of the dynamic exchange of 20th century artistic ideas over decades and across the world, and the development of modernism in Australia.
"I think it is the most accomplished and the most meaningful venue so far in the entire tour in terms of research into art history, because of this dialogue," said the head of Museum Berggruen, Dr Gabriel Montua.
More than 80 works from the museum sit alongside 75 works from the national collection, by artists such as Russell Drysdale, Grace Cossington Smith and Dorrit Black.
The exhibition opens with Cézanne's experiments in form and perspective, on show with works by Australian artists like Drysdale and Ian Fairweather, who were influenced by his innovations.
Rarely seen works by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque show the breakthroughs of Cubism, hung with Australian artists such as Dorrit Black, Grace Crowley and Roy de Maistre.
There are sections devoted to Paul Klee, Dora Maar and Henri Matisse, while a sculpture by Giacometti measuring more than two metres high represents the first time a such large scale Giacometti has been displayed down under.
All of the artists in the exhibition ultimately come back to Cézanne's innovations, according to NGA curator David Greenhalgh.
"He is the figurehead who inspired so much of what came after," said Greenhalgh.
"There's a real sense of a lot of these artists looking at one another and deriving inspiration from one another."
The Berggruen collection is the life's work of art dealer Heinz Berggruen, who fled Germany before World War II and sold his collection to the German state in 2000, ensuring it would be available to the public.
Many of the artists he collected were deliberately removed from German art collections, because they were deemed degenerate during the Nazi reign.
The exhibition opens Saturday and runs till September 21.
AAP travelled to Canberra with the assistance of the National Gallery of Australia.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
4 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘We have no choice': Bar owners drive a levy to make sure the music won't die
In a move that its owners claim is an Australian first, Sooki Lounge in Belgrave will begin charging customers a $1 levy to help cover the costs of public liability insurance the bar has identified as a threat to its ongoing operation as a live music venue. 'We have no choice,' says Stephen Crombie, who runs the venue in the foothills of Melbourne's Dandenong Ranges with his partner, Suzana Pozvek. 'But I don't want to just whack up the booking fee because it needs to be educational. 'I need the customer to understand that's where it's going, and that Oztix [the venue's online ticketing partner] is not gouging and Sooki Lounge is not gouging here.' To that end, he plans to share a video explaining the move on social media in the next two weeks, including his latest premium, a copy of which is already on public display at the bar. 'Insurance' is probably not the first word that springs to mind when you think live music (the words 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll', on the other hand …) But for many venue operators who have been struggling to stay afloat since the disruptions wrought by COVID and ongoing cost-of-living pressures, the issue is an absolute chart topper. Loading Multiple inquiries into the state of live music and the festival scene have heard that the soaring cost of public liability insurance is a key factor in a crisis that has plagued the sector for more than four years. The increase for cover on Sooki's 330-capacity venue – which is open four nights a week and is only occasionally sold out – has been massive. Pre-COVID, it cost about $15,000 annually. The latest bill, issued less than a fortnight ago, came in at $61,035. To pay it, Crombie and Pozvek need finance, and that increases the total to about $65,000. It's little wonder then that so many venues have simply given up. According to an industry survey released in late 2023, more than 1300 had closed doors or stopped hosting live music since the pandemic, which is about one-quarter of all the sector's venues in Australia. More recent figures are not available, but anecdotal evidence suggests the situation has not improved, as higher living costs and the trend to lower alcohol consumption on premises continue to blow holes in the business model.
The Age
4 hours ago
- The Age
‘We have no choice': Bar owners drive a levy to make sure the music won't die
In a move that its owners claim is an Australian first, Sooki Lounge in Belgrave will begin charging customers a $1 levy to help cover the costs of public liability insurance the bar has identified as a threat to its ongoing operation as a live music venue. 'We have no choice,' says Stephen Crombie, who runs the venue in the foothills of Melbourne's Dandenong Ranges with his partner, Suzana Pozvek. 'But I don't want to just whack up the booking fee because it needs to be educational. 'I need the customer to understand that's where it's going, and that Oztix [the venue's online ticketing partner] is not gouging and Sooki Lounge is not gouging here.' To that end, he plans to share a video explaining the move on social media in the next two weeks, including his latest premium, a copy of which is already on public display at the bar. 'Insurance' is probably not the first word that springs to mind when you think live music (the words 'sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll', on the other hand …) But for many venue operators who have been struggling to stay afloat since the disruptions wrought by COVID and ongoing cost-of-living pressures, the issue is an absolute chart topper. Loading Multiple inquiries into the state of live music and the festival scene have heard that the soaring cost of public liability insurance is a key factor in a crisis that has plagued the sector for more than four years. The increase for cover on Sooki's 330-capacity venue – which is open four nights a week and is only occasionally sold out – has been massive. Pre-COVID, it cost about $15,000 annually. The latest bill, issued less than a fortnight ago, came in at $61,035. To pay it, Crombie and Pozvek need finance, and that increases the total to about $65,000. It's little wonder then that so many venues have simply given up. According to an industry survey released in late 2023, more than 1300 had closed doors or stopped hosting live music since the pandemic, which is about one-quarter of all the sector's venues in Australia. More recent figures are not available, but anecdotal evidence suggests the situation has not improved, as higher living costs and the trend to lower alcohol consumption on premises continue to blow holes in the business model.
The Advertiser
8 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Newcastle Comedy Club: Friday Night Comedy - Fri 27 Jun to Fri 22 Aug
Community Newcastle Comedy Club: Friday Night Comedy When Fri 27 June 7.30pm Repeats weekly, each Fri, until August 22 2025 Where Newcastle Comedy Club Get Directions Head over to Newcastle Comedy Club on Darby Street for a rolling lineup of comedians - from locals to travelling comedians from Sydney, interstate and worldwide every single week. You can expect to see 5-6 different acts, with different styles so there is something for everyone. Discover the next big thing in Australian comedy before everyone else! Strictly 18+.
