The National Gallery of Australia has announced its forthcoming program of exhibitions in Canberra and across Australia. Highlights include Ethel Carrick and Anne Dangar retrospectives; international modern art from Museum Berggruen, Berlin; the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial; and new displays showcasing the depth and richness of the national collection. Patricia Piccinini’s skywhales return to the sky, and a show on the art of music posters is set to tour the country.
“Our program offers diverse and culturally dynamic experiences, presenting international and Australian art highlights and reinforcing our commitment to First Nations voices and gender equity. Through art we hope to connect people with Australia’s stories while also reflecting on the historical and contemporary interconnections between here and other parts of the world,” said National Gallery Director, Dr Nick Mitzevich.
In a summer double bill, Ethel Carrick and Anne Dangar retrospectives will invite visitors to explore the lives and artistic legacies of these important women artists, who were innovators in the Australian art world. While both were practising artists in the early 20th century, Carrick and Dangar developed their own unique voices and styles.
Truly transnational Carrick lived between France and Australia and travelled across Europe, India and North Africa, creating bold and vibrant post-impressionist paintings, including of marketplaces, beach scenes and figure studies in diverse contexts; while Dangar became a pioneer of cubist pottery, synthesising traditional methods with bold, abstract designs.
These exhibitions continue the National Gallery’s Know My Name initiative, addressing the underrepresentation of women artists and their stories within Australian art history.
In winter 2025, Cézanne to Giacometti: Highlights from Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie will showcase modern art highlights drawn from Berlin’s Museum Berggruen including works by Paul Cézanne, Alberto Giacometti, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, George Braque and Henri Matisse.
In their first showing in Australia, over 80 works of art will travel to Canberra from this important collection developed by the German-American art collector and dealer Heinz Berggruen. Berggruen played a significant role in the post World War II European modern art market.
Bergrruen sold his collection considerably below market value to the German state in 2000, seven years before his death.T he National Gallery’s collection will be in dialogue with these works, telling the story of the rise of Modernism in Australia through moments of contact and exchange.
Two new displays will showcase works by women artists in the national collection, including recent acquisitions. Highlighting French artist Sonia Delaunay’s influence on the Australia’s fashion icons Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, Know My Name: Kee, Jackson and Delaunay will be a colourful celebration of three visionary artists.
Know My Name: Global features works by living women artists such as Judy Chicago and Vivienne Binns who have pushed the limits of artistic practice through their experimentation with form and colour, combined with strategies of activism, disruption and shock.
Opening summer 2025, the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain will take over the major exhibition galleries before embarking on a national tour in 2026, supported by First Nations Art Partner Wesfarmers Arts.
Recently announced Artistic Director, Tony Albert (Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku-Yalanji peoples), will bring new perspectives to the Triennial, working closely with First Nations artists from across Australia. After the Rain celebrates intergenerational legacies and presents new immersive projects that resonate with the idea of rebirth and cycles of cleansing.
In 2025, Wesfarmers Arts will also support showcasing First Nations art on the international stage with the major exhibition Emily Kam Kngwarray to be presented in one of the world’s most visited galleries – the Tate Modern.
A dynamic program of collection presentations will showcase the breadth and depth of the national collection and highlight new acquisitions. From Australia’s love affair with the car, to humanity’s complex relationship with nature, to celebrating Papua New Guinea’s 50th Independence Anniversary, these changing displays will tell new stories and offer visitors a deep dive into the national collection.
Through Art Across Australia programs, including touring exhibitions and Sharing the National Collection, people across the country will have even greater access to the national collection. Two exciting art experiences featuring on the touring exhibitions program from late 2024 are Patricia Piccinini’s beloved skywhale hot air balloons with Skywhales Across Australia and Enjoy this trip: The art of music posters – an exhibition capturing the spirit of a time as an era of experimentation with poster art from the 1960s to 1980s.
Funded by the Australian Government under the National Cultural Policy Revive, the National Gallery’s Sharing the National Collection program enters its second year. The program allows the Gallery to share much-loved works of art with regional galleries and cultural institutions across the country on long-term loans.
In the first year, loans have been supported in every state and territory with over 50 works earmarked for display. Upcoming loans include sending works of art to Ipswich Art Gallery (Qld), Tamworth Regional Gallery (NSW) and Burnie Arts Centre (Tas).
“Art Across Australia allows us to pursue our ambition to share art with as many people as possible,” said Mitzevich. “This year we celebrate 12 million people experiencing our touring exhibitions and enter the second year of the Sharing the National Collection program.
“We are excited to partner with more regional and suburban galleries in every state and territory to expand access to the national collection.”
For more information about the National Gallery of Australia’s 2024–2025 program, visit: www.nga.gov.au for details.
Images: Ethel Carrick, Beach scene, c.1909, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1976 | Paul Cézanne, Portrait of Madame Cézanne, c 1885, Museum Berggruen, Neue Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, on loan from the Berggruen family. Photo: Jens Ziehe | Tony Albert (Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku-Yalanji peoples) in The Aboriginal Memorial, 1987–88, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra | Paul Worstead, Jimmy Jones Souvenirs, Mental as anything – Creatures of leisure (Martin), 1982, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, gift of the artist 1994 This work appears on screen courtesy of the artist © Paul Worsted / Copyright Agency, 2024