The National Gallery of Victoria has today revealed its Autumn/Winter 2017 season, including the exclusive to Melbourne, world-premiere exhibition Van Gogh and the Seasons which will open in April 2017 as the NGV’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition for 2017.
Van Gogh is one of the most recognisable and famous names in art history and a key figure of the Post-Impressionist movement. Van Gogh and the Seasons will feature more than forty paintings and twenty-five drawings, most of which have never been shown in Australia. Presented within sections devoted to each of the four seasons, the exhibition is curated by Sjraar van Heugten (independent art historian and former Head of Collections at the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam).
“Van Gogh was a true original. His love of the seasons was deeply profound and played an important role in his life and practice,” said Tony Ellwood, Director NGV. “This reverence for summer, autumn, winter and spring and the eternal cycles of nature is seen in the energy and dynamism of his distinct brushstrokes, which almost leap off the canvas with vitality.”
“His inimitable style and extraordinary use of colour has cemented his place in art history as one of the greatest painters of all time. Van Gogh and the Seasons is a true coup for the National Gallery of Victoria, and an opportunity for our audience to see a group of more than sixty van Gogh works, most of which have never travelled to Australia.”
Today’s announcement was made by Tony Ellwood and Martin Foley MP, Minister for Creative Industries, in front of a 4.5m tall recreation of a van Gogh artwork, Vase with Cornflowers and Poppies, made of thousands of fresh and artificial flowers. Melbourne florist Flowers Vasette produced the installation bringing into full bloom van Gogh’s love of the seasons.
Other key exhibitions announced this morning include the NGV Festival of Photography, which will be the largest display of photography in the NGV’s history and span across 11 gallery spaces. Solo exhibitions will be presented by leading artists including Patrick Pound, Bill Henson, Zoë Croggon and Ross Coulter, as well as the major survey William Eggleston: Portraits – that comes to Melbourne direct from its critically acclaimed showing at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The NGV will present Hokusai in July 2017, the most comprehensive exhibition of Hokusai ever seen in Australia. Hokusai, the founding father of manga, is of the most creative minds in the history of Japanese art. The exhibition will feature loans from the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum as well as key works from the NGV Collection including the iconic image The Great Wave.
For more information, visit: www.ngv.vic.gov.au for details.
Image: Tony Ellwood, Director NGV with a recreation of van Gogh artwork, Vase with Cornflowers and Poppies by Melbourne florist, Flowers Vasette (supplied)