Renoir to Picasso

During August and September 2001, the National Gallery of Victoria was pleased to host an important exhibition of Impressionist and modern masterpieces from the celebrated Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume Collection of the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris.

Featuring over eighty paintings from one of the most exciting periods in artistic history, this spectacular exhibition showcased the great names in French art including Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, Monet, Rousseau, Modigliani, Derain, Laurencin, Utrillo, Soutine and Picasso.

The core of the Walter-Guillaume collection was collected by the influential art dealer Paul Guillaume in early twentieth century Paris. Guillaume’s vision was to create an intimate gallery of modern art, however his early death prevented this being realised in his lifetime. Juliette (“Domenica”) Lacaze, Guillaume’s widow, continued to enhance the collection with her own acquisitions before bequeathing it to the French state for display at the Musée de l’Orangerie.

The Walter-Guillaume collection evokes a time when Paris was at the centre of artistic and cultural life. This cosmopolitan era in Parisian society was reflected in the range of public programs associated with the exhibition.

Presented by the Musée de l’Orangerie.