Major Monet, Matisse and Picasso Exhibitions Will Hit Australia in 2019
The famous artists will feature in two new exhibitions at Canberra's National Gallery of Australia.
When 2018 comes to a close, the National Gallery of Australia will be home to both a permanent Yayoi Kusama infinity room and a short-term showcase of pre-Raphaelite masterpieces from London's Tate Britain — but 2019 looks set to be even bigger for the Canberra venue. The gallery has revealed its full program for next year and it's filled with huge names from the art world, with exhibitions showcasing the work of Monet, Matisse and Picasso coming to the nation's capital.
Hitting the NGA between June and August, Monet: Impression Sunrise, will be focused around the artwork that gives the exhibition its title. Painted back in 1872, Impression, Soleil levant is credited as the source of the term 'impressionism' and rarely travels outside of the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris. In fact, it has never visited the southern hemisphere before. In collaboration with the French institution, the NGA will display other world-famous paintings by the artist — as well as works by other impressionist talents inspired by Monet, such as JMW Turner.
From December 2019 to April 2020, the NGA will then play host to to Matisse / Picasso, which will give art fans to see iconic creations by two major artists in the same space. Drawing pieces from more than 40 collections around the world, the exhibition will highlight the great rivalry between the two figures, and how they responded to each other in their work.
The NGA's fondness for Picasso shouldn't come as a surprise — the gallery is already home to a rare set of 100 of the artist's pieces, called The Vollard Suite, which has been touring the country with stops in both Brisbane and Victoria.
Among its other highlights for 2019, the NGA will also become home to a new four-metre high wax 'candle' sculpture by Swiss artist Urs Fischer from March, and will unveil a major new work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in October.
Monet: Impression Sunrise will display at the National Gallery of Australia between June 7 and August 18, 2019, while Matisse / Picasso will display between December 13, 2019 and April 13, 2020. For further details, visit the NGA website.
Image: Claude Monet. Impression, Soleil Levant. 1872. Paris, Musée Marmottan Monet.
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