Shepparton Art Museum lands Dali, Rodin, Picasso and more for Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso
A striking array of Modernist paintings, many of which have never before been exhibited in Australia, are coming to Northern Victoria this winter; Including a work by Salvador Dali that previously hung on the bathroom wall.
Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) will host it from May Confronting Modernity: From Degas to Picasso by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.
Fifteen of the works were a charitable gift to the Auckland Art Gallery in 2023 by New York-based collectors Julian Robertson (1932-2022) and Josie Robertson (1943-2010).
Before their donation, they were part of the Robertsons’ private collection at their home in New York.
Auckland Art Gallery’s senior curator Dr. The Robertsons adore New Zealand and have many cherished family memories of it, says Sophie Matthiesson.
“They had very romantic memories of New Zealand, a lot of family stuff, but they had bought up little plots of land all over the place, creating golf courses and vineyards and things like that, and then they were spending a lot of their money on quiet philanthropy… and funding rewilding programmes.”
Over the course of their marriage, the Robertsons amassed an incredible art collection, making purchases mostly based on things they liked.
“Everything they own is hung on their walls. In Shepparton, they’ll use some of the beautiful photographs of the house with the Légers and Picassos and things hanging everywhere, and the sculptures in the plush apartment overlooking Central Park on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.”
The couple was aware that they could donate their collection to the Metropolitan or MOMA, but both already had strong backgrounds in 20th-century modernist work.
The exhibition will feature a striking bronze sculpture by Degas, as well as magnificent paintings by 20th-century masters. For example, he says that Dali is the best example of his skill. “There’s no exaggeration in this. This is one of those nonsense that Dali was some kind of buffoon, smooth or superficial. But these kinds of paintings completely turn that perception on its head.”
Other high-profile names featured include Pierre Bonnard, Auguste Rodin, Georges Braque, André Derain, Paul Gauguin, Barbara Hepworth, Fernand Léger and Henri Matisse.
Given that two of our major regional galleries are closed for redevelopment, it’s an opportune time for SAM to host the show. Bendigo Art Gallery is spending $45 million and is set to open its doors in early 2028, while Ballarat will reopen in late 2026.
SAM’s six-year, $50 million redevelopment project, which reopens in 2021, enabled it to host such an important exhibition.
Matthiesson says we’re witnessing a renaissance in regional Victoria, which he describes as “future-proofing these institutions, modernizing them so they stay there for 100 years.”
Confronting Modernity: From Degas to Picasso by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki At the Shepparton Museum of Art from 23 May to 20 September.
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