Paul Cézanne<br/> French 1839–1906<br/> <em>Turn in the road</em> c. 1881<br/> oil on canvas<br/> 60.6 x 73.3 cm<br/> Museum of Fine Arts, Boston<br/> Bequest of John T. Spaulding (48.525)<br/> Photography © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. All Rights Reserved.
Letters from the Director

2021 AT THE NGV

Dear Friends,

This week we announced our next season of exhibitions for 2021. From the radical works of the Impressionists, to the transformative impact of design on daily life, the NGV’s upcoming exhibitions, programs, festivals and events are a celebration of the revolutionary spirit that powers human creativity. We can’t wait to share it all with you, and in the meantime, here are some of the highlights to look forward to.

Featuring more than 100 masterpieces from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, French Impressionism is an internationally exclusive exhibition designed for the NGV. The MFA Boston’s collection of French Impressionist paintings is one of the richest in the world.

The exhibition celebrates the radical artists at the movement’s centre, including Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Cézanne, Degas, Cassatt and Sisley, who boldly rejected artistic convention. Audiences will have the opportunity to study the works of these artists up close and experience the unique brushwork, colours and perspectives that characterise Impressionism. We are indebted to the generosity of the MFA Boston for entrusting us with an unprecedented number of iconic works – including many that have never been seen in Australia.

Featuring more than 100 masterpieces from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, French Impressionism is an internationally exclusive exhibition designed for the NGV. The MFA Boston’s collection of French Impressionist paintings is one of the richest in the world.

The exhibition celebrates the radical artists at the movement’s centre, including Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Cézanne, Degas, Cassatt and Sisley, who boldly rejected artistic convention. Audiences will have the opportunity to study the works of these artists up close and experience the unique brushwork, colours and perspectives that characterise Impressionism. We are indebted to the generosity of the MFA Boston for entrusting us with an unprecedented number of iconic works – including many that have never been seen in Australia.

One such work is Cézanne’s Turn in the road, pictured above. The ‘elder statesman’ of Impressionism, Camille Pissarro first met Paul Cézanne in 1861, when Cézanne, who was nine years younger, was still at art school. It was to be several years before a meaningful friendship developed between the two, cemented by their shared sense of being outsiders – Pissarro as an immigrant from the West Indies, and Cézanne a country lad from Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, who was mocked at art school for his heavy Provençal accent. Pissarro lived in Pontoise, a sizeable rural town roughly thirty kilometres north west of Paris, and was familiar with the area’s best painting locales. In the 1870s Cézanne moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, just under ninety minutes’ walk away from Pontoise, in order to work more closely with his elder friend and mentor. Cézanne’s Turn in the road was painted during this time of direct dialogue between the two artists. Taking a subject that was dear to Pissarro, Cézanne here made it distinctly his own.

One such work is Cézanne’s Turn in the road, pictured above. The ‘elder statesman’ of Impressionism, Camille Pissarro first met Paul Cézanne in 1861, when Cézanne, who was nine years younger, was still at art school. It was to be several years before a meaningful friendship developed between the two, cemented by their shared sense of being outsiders – Pissarro as an immigrant from the West Indies, and Cézanne a country lad from Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, who was mocked at art school for his heavy Provençal accent. Pissarro lived in Pontoise, a sizeable rural town roughly thirty kilometres north west of Paris, and was familiar with the area’s best painting locales. In the 1870s Cézanne moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, just under ninety minutes’ walk away from Pontoise, in order to work more closely with his elder friend and mentor. Cézanne’s Turn in the road was painted during this time of direct dialogue between the two artists. Taking a subject that was dear to Pissarro, Cézanne here made it distinctly his own.

Coinciding with French Impressionism, She-Oak and Sunlight: Australian Impressionism is a major exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia with more than 250 work drawn from public and private collections around Australia, including the NGV Collection. The title work, Tom Roberts’s She-oak and sunlight was acquired by the NGV in 2019. With its palette of blue and gold, and loose, rapid brushwork, it is a timeless vision of an iconically Australian landscape, painted in a radically modern manner. This work was first exhibited in Melbourne in 1889 in the groundbreaking 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition, which altered the trajectory of art in Australia. An expansive exhibition, She-Oak and Sunlight will provide audiences with new insights into Australian Impressionism and the influential professional and personal relationships of key artists in the movement, including Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Jane Sutherland, Charles Conder, Frederick McCubbin, Clara Southern and more.

Coinciding with French Impressionism, She-Oak and Sunlight: Australian Impressionism is a major exhibition at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia with more than 250 work drawn from public and private collections around Australia, including the NGV Collection. The title work, Tom Roberts’s She-oak and sunlight was acquired by the NGV in 2019. With its palette of blue and gold, and loose, rapid brushwork, it is a timeless vision of an iconically Australian landscape, painted in a radically modern manner. This work was first exhibited in Melbourne in 1889 in the groundbreaking 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition, which altered the trajectory of art in Australia. An expansive exhibition, She-Oak and Sunlight will provide audiences with new insights into Australian Impressionism and the influential professional and personal relationships of key artists in the movement, including Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Jane Sutherland, Charles Conder, Frederick McCubbin, Clara Southern and more.

Celebrating the landscape in a markedly different way is the timely exhibition, Big Weather. Works sharing stories from creation, through to responses to the recent impact of bushfires and flooding, showcase the sophisticated understanding of weather systems that exists within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural knowledge. Flooded Gum, Katarapko Creek, Murray River National Park is a recent photograph by Nici Cumpston, an artist born in Adelaide and a descendant of the Barkindji people with family from Broken Hill and Menindee in New South Wales. Much of Cumpston’s work focuses on her heartland, the Murray River where she grew up. This work features a river red gum surrounded by water as part of a regeneration project which floods the forest in an attempt to bring it back to life. Cumpston’s body of work highlights her acute awareness of the environmental crisis facing the Murray River, yet her photographs of mighty river red gums also indicate their power and life.

Celebrating the landscape in a markedly different way is the timely exhibition, Big Weather. Works sharing stories from creation, through to responses to the recent impact of bushfires and flooding, showcase the sophisticated understanding of weather systems that exists within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural knowledge. Flooded Gum, Katarapko Creek, Murray River National Park is a recent photograph by Nici Cumpston, an artist born in Adelaide and a descendant of the Barkindji people with family from Broken Hill and Menindee in New South Wales. Much of Cumpston’s work focuses on her heartland, the Murray River where she grew up. This work features a river red gum surrounded by water as part of a regeneration project which floods the forest in an attempt to bring it back to life. Cumpston’s body of work highlights her acute awareness of the environmental crisis facing the Murray River, yet her photographs of mighty river red gums also indicate their power and life.

Francisco Goya was the most celebrated artist in late eighteenth century Spain, and is considered to be one of the first truly modern artists. This year we welcome Goya’s work to Melbourne in a world exclusive exhibition Goya: Drawings from the Prado Museum, curated especially for the NGV by the Prado Museum, Madrid.

Following a near-fatal illness in 1792, which left the artist profoundly deaf, Goya turned to drawing to record his thoughts, visions and dreams. Phantom dancing with castanets is from his last album of drawings, made during his final years in France. He drew street performers in Bordeaux, as well as enigmatic images such as this phantom dressed in clerical robes, which may have been a dream image or a satirical work. Goya’s extraordinary view of the world continues to resonate with contemporary audiences, and it’s with great anticipation that we look forward to presenting this first exhibition of Goya’s work at the NGV in more than twenty years.

Francisco Goya was the most celebrated artist in late eighteenth century Spain, and is considered to be one of the first truly modern artists. This year we welcome Goya’s work to Melbourne in a world exclusive exhibition Goya: Drawings from the Prado Museum, curated especially for the NGV by the Prado Museum, Madrid.

Following a near-fatal illness in 1792, which left the artist profoundly deaf, Goya turned to drawing to record his thoughts, visions and dreams. Phantom dancing with castanets is from his last album of drawings, made during his final years in France. He drew street performers in Bordeaux, as well as enigmatic images such as this phantom dressed in clerical robes, which may have been a dream image or a satirical work. Goya’s extraordinary view of the world continues to resonate with contemporary audiences, and it’s with great anticipation that we look forward to presenting this first exhibition of Goya’s work at the NGV in more than twenty years.

Transforming Worlds: Change and Tradition in Contemporary India highlights the work of artists who use dynamic and thought-provoking visual languages to respond to changing social environments. Emerging artist Sonia Chitrakar continues her family’s multi-generational tradition of painting narrative scrolls in the pattachitra (‘picture cloth’) style of West Bengal. A centuries old practice, pattachitra were often used as visual props to illustrate stories and songs during public performances. Today, Chitrakar uses the artform to communicate contemporary concerns and events. In COVID-19 scroll the sequence of image frames, read top to bottom, detail a series of events leading to the introduction and spread of COVID-19 throughout India and the various safe practices required to mitigate community transmission. In the final frames a vaccine is trialled, and Chitrakar paints herself in a facemask while holding the scroll and singing an accompanying song she has composed.

Transforming Worlds: Change and Tradition in Contemporary India highlights the work of artists who use dynamic and thought-provoking visual languages to respond to changing social environments. Emerging artist Sonia Chitrakar continues her family’s multi-generational tradition of painting narrative scrolls in the pattachitra (‘picture cloth’) style of West Bengal. A centuries old practice, pattachitra were often used as visual props to illustrate stories and songs during public performances. Today, Chitrakar uses the artform to communicate contemporary concerns and events. In COVID-19 scroll the sequence of image frames, read top to bottom, detail a series of events leading to the introduction and spread of COVID-19 throughout India and the various safe practices required to mitigate community transmission. In the final frames a vaccine is trialled, and Chitrakar paints herself in a facemask while holding the scroll and singing an accompanying song she has composed.

First announced last year, QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection is a landmark exhibition that will explore the NGV Collection through a queer lens and celebrate the rich, diverse and sometimes untold stories that emerge. The Kiss by German artist Peter Behrens, is an exciting new addition to NGV’s collection of Prints and Drawings. In this flowing design typical of the Art Nouveau movement, the hair of the two subjects entwines into one unified, organic mass, framing their faces. With their androgynous, beautifully delineated features, there is a meaningful sense of ambiguity in the subjects themselves, and the desire they express. The work will be an invaluable inclusion in QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection, which will offer the most historically expansive thematic presentation of its kind ever presented by an Australian art institution.

First announced last year, QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection is a landmark exhibition that will explore the NGV Collection through a queer lens and celebrate the rich, diverse and sometimes untold stories that emerge. The Kiss by German artist Peter Behrens, is an exciting new addition to NGV’s collection of Prints and Drawings. In this flowing design typical of the Art Nouveau movement, the hair of the two subjects entwines into one unified, organic mass, framing their faces. With their androgynous, beautifully delineated features, there is a meaningful sense of ambiguity in the subjects themselves, and the desire they express. The work will be an invaluable inclusion in QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection, which will offer the most historically expansive thematic presentation of its kind ever presented by an Australian art institution.

Maree Clarke: Ancestral Memories is a retrospective of Melbourne-based artist and designer Maree Clarke who is passionate about reclaiming, reviving and sharing south-eastern Aboriginal art and object making practices. Clarke is connected to the traditional lands of the Mutti Mutti, Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta and Boon Wurrung peoples. Much of Clarke’s work is made from and about memory. Her work On the banks of the Murrumbidgee River is a lenticular lightbox in which Clarke recounts her memories of sleeping as a child in a suitcase on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. This is the first solo exhibition at NGV by a living artist with ancestral ties to the Country on which the Gallery stands, making this exhibition a momentous milestone in the NGV’s history.

Maree Clarke: Ancestral Memories is a retrospective of Melbourne-based artist and designer Maree Clarke who is passionate about reclaiming, reviving and sharing south-eastern Aboriginal art and object making practices. Clarke is connected to the traditional lands of the Mutti Mutti, Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta and Boon Wurrung peoples. Much of Clarke’s work is made from and about memory. Her work On the banks of the Murrumbidgee River is a lenticular lightbox in which Clarke recounts her memories of sleeping as a child in a suitcase on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River. This is the first solo exhibition at NGV by a living artist with ancestral ties to the Country on which the Gallery stands, making this exhibition a momentous milestone in the NGV’s history.

Drawing upon the NGV Collection from 1980 to the present, History in Making showcases over seventy works of contemporary design across diverse creative fields. It explores how the physical properties of materials, their origins, design histories and narratives shape human culture today. Contemporary Australian jeweller Bin Dixon Ward explores the possibilities of digital software and 3D printing in nylon to reveal the beauty of complex geometry in her 2012 necklace Framework. First used in the mass manufacture of the humble toothbrush in the 1930s, synthetic nylon is ideal for 3D printing due to its thermodynamic properties, subsequently entering the realm of one-off and small batch studio production by artists and designers.

Drawing upon the NGV Collection from 1980 to the present, History in Making showcases over seventy works of contemporary design across diverse creative fields. It explores how the physical properties of materials, their origins, design histories and narratives shape human culture today. Contemporary Australian jeweller Bin Dixon Ward explores the possibilities of digital software and 3D printing in nylon to reveal the beauty of complex geometry in her 2012 necklace Framework. First used in the mass manufacture of the humble toothbrush in the 1930s, synthetic nylon is ideal for 3D printing due to its thermodynamic properties, subsequently entering the realm of one-off and small batch studio production by artists and designers.

For more than twenty years, the NGV has been building a rich collection of important works on bark by women artists from Buku Larrngay Mulka Centre, in Northeast Arnhem Land. Bringing these works together for the first time, Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala is an important exhibition that celebrates the consummate skill of artists from Buku and shares their important stories with Melbourne audiences. Amongst these artists is a series of works by the great Gulumbu Yunupingu, whose paintings of gan’yu (stars) are immersive maps that depict the known and unknown universe. Working with ochre on bark as in this work, Gulumbu would paint stars on top of stars, showing the interconnected relationship between all things in the universe.

For more than twenty years, the NGV has been building a rich collection of important works on bark by women artists from Buku Larrngay Mulka Centre, in Northeast Arnhem Land. Bringing these works together for the first time, Bark Ladies: Eleven Artists from Yirrkala is an important exhibition that celebrates the consummate skill of artists from Buku and shares their important stories with Melbourne audiences. Amongst these artists is a series of works by the great Gulumbu Yunupingu, whose paintings of gan’yu (stars) are immersive maps that depict the known and unknown universe. Working with ochre on bark as in this work, Gulumbu would paint stars on top of stars, showing the interconnected relationship between all things in the universe.

We look forward to celebrating the work of these incredible artists with you in the coming months at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia and NGV International.

Best wishes,
Tony Ellwood AM
Director, National Gallery of Victoria

We look forward to celebrating the work of these incredible artists with you in the coming months at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia and NGV International.

Best wishes,
Tony Ellwood AM
Director, National Gallery of Victoria