National Gallery of Australia
A classical education
Discover the missing piece of the Impressionist puzzle as Monet’s Impression, sunrise goes on show in the nation’s capital.
This winter, Australian audiences have the rare opportunity to see a masterpiece that changed the course of art history. “Everybody thinks they know Monet but they don’t necessarily know how he came to be the artist the world admires,” says Simeran Maxwell, assistant curator of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) exhibition Monet: Impression Sunrise (until 1 September). “We’re trying to tell a story that is well known in France – but isn’t so much here in Australia – to show only how Monet came to paint this work. We want to bring insight into the piece that started a new way of painting, of capturing mood, sensation and light.”
The work in question is Impression, soleil levant (Impression, sunrise), created in 1872. This prized painting, credited with inspiring the Impressionist movement, is one of the most important works in the world. “This work rarely travels,” says Maxwell. “It’s such an exciting opportunity to have it here.”
In partnership with Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris – which boasts the world’s largest collection of his paintings – and Art Exhibitions Australia, this Canberra exhibition is captivating visitors with its collection of 60 pieces by Monet (many making their Australian debut), the artists who influenced him and those who were influenced by him. They include Joseph Mallord William Turner, Gustave Courbet, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Alfred Sisley and Berthe Morisot. Works are on loan from the Tate museum, other French institutions and a number of smaller institutions plus private collections in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, just for this show.
“We’re trying to do something a little bit different,” says Maxwell of the curious and intellectual perspective of the exhibition. “Nick Mitzevich [NGA director] said, ‘Let’s give people more. Let’s make them aware of something they might previously not have been aware of.’”
Impression, sunrise – rarely shown outside Paris – pieces together not only Monet’s journey as an artist but traces the blood lines of Impressionism. “We really do have Monet’s full career in the works we are showing,” says Maxwell.
The NGA has two famous Monets in its own collection: Nymphéas (Waterlilies) and Meules, Milieu Du Jour (Haystacks, Midday), which are highlights of the gallery in their own right. Even for international visitors to Canberra, the NGA’s collection is a must-see. “It’s easy to take it for granted but we truly have the most amazing collection, which was developed early in the gallery’s history,” she adds. “To be able to show it in the context of these other works reminds us how lucky we are.”