Cézanne to Giacometti: Highlights from Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie, curated in partnership with Berlin’s Museum Berggruen, features over 170 works of art, with around half of those travelling from abroad to shed a new light on a pivotal moment in art history. On display from 31 May to 21 September 2025, this major exhibition examines how the revolutionary ideas of modern art spread and drove developments in both European and Australian Modernism.

Cézanne to Giacometti marks the first time works of art from one of the most significant hubs of modern art in Germany – the Museum Berggruen collection in Berlin – will be seen in Australia. The exhibition offers unique insights into the development of 20th-century art, showcasing the deep connections between European and Australian artists. It highlights how Australian artists such as Dorrit Black, Grace Crowley, Anne Dangar and Russell Drysdale drew inspiration from European artists and how the Australian John Russell influenced the master Matisse.

Henri Matisse, Tériade Éditeur, Edmond Vairel, Draeger Frères, Jazz. Icare [Icarus], 1947, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 1980 © Succession H. Matisse/Copyright Agency, 2025

The exhibition starts with Paul Cézanne, whose radical experiments and push against tradition gave courage to generations of artists who followed. The artists of the Museum Berggruen collection — Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee and Alberto Giacometti — were inspired by Cézanne, and the works they created transformed perspective, colour, subject matter and form across the 20th century.

While many of these artists lived and worked in Paris, where their art could be closely shared, the movement of people and pictures soon spread their ideas across the world. Australian art transformed in parallel with artists often encountering new ideas through adventurous travel, books and photographs from Europe, or for artists such as Inge King and Ludwig Hirschfeld Mack, having to flee their home country for Australia.

Paul Cézanne, Portrait of Madame Cézanne, c 1885, Museum Berggruen, Museum Berggruen, Neue Nationalgalerie—Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. On long term loan from the Berggruen family. Photo: ©bpk/ Nationalgalerie, SMB, Museum Berggruen/Jens Ziehe

Dr Nick Mitzevich, Director, National Gallery: ‘By partnering with Berlin’s Museum Berggruen to bring this major project to fruition, we place Australia’s national collection within an international context. Cézanne to Giacometti is a unique opportunity for Australian audiences to experience rarely seen works by some of the world’s best-known artists, alongside and in conversation with, the art of significant Australian modernists.’

Dr Gabriel Montua, Director, Museum Berggruen: ‘We are excited to share the masterpieces of the Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie collection in Berlin with the National Gallery of Australia while Museum Berggruen is closed for major renovations. This collaboration enables our collection to be experienced by new audiences in a broader context and allows us to explore the rich exchange of ideas that shaped modern art across continents.’

KEY DATES
Tickets on sale | 12 Mar 2025
Exhibition Season | 31 May – 21 Sep 2025

TICKETS
$25 Adult
$22 Concession
$20 Members
Free | Children 0-17

PUBLICATION
The Cézanne to Giacometti exhibition publication celebrates the significant works of art from both the Museum Berggruen and National Gallery collections. It features a major curatorial essay by David Greenhalgh, Curator, National Gallery, Natalie Zimmer, Curator, Museum Berggruen and Deirdre Cannon, Assistant Curator, National Gallery.

PLAYSPACE
Cézanne to Giacometti is accompanied by an interactive playspace by Sydney-based contemporary artist Dr. Sanné Mestrom. Mestrom’s practice engages with the legacy of European Modernism through a feminist lens. The playspace titled The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of her Parts draws inspiration from the history of abstraction in Modernism, offering a sensory tactile experience and drawing activations. Audiences of all ages will be invited to engage, create and connect.

DINING EXPERIENCE
From May 2025, to celebrate the opening of Cézanne to Giacometti, the National Gallery with hospitality partner Trippas White Group, will present a special dining experience inspired by European café culture. Open daily throughout the exhibition season.

ABOUT MUSEUM BERGGRUEN
One of the most significant hubs of modern art in Germany featuring one of the strongest collections of Picasso worldwide, the Museum Berggruen collection originates from the prominent gallerist and passionate collector Heinz Berggruen (1914–2007). Berggruen, born and raised in Berlin, spent more than half a century living in Paris and connecting with artists of the time, building a truly unique collection. Acquired by the German state from the collector in the year 2000, Museum Berggruen forms an ideal and natural complement to the collection of modern art held at its mother institution the Neue Nationalgalerie, in particular with its works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, and Alberto Giacometti. Currently closed to the public for major building renovations, the Museum Berggruen has been touring their collection since 2022. The exhibition at the National Gallery follows the recent success of the Musée de l’Orangerie’s Heinz Berggruen: a dealer and his collection which resulted in the third highest attendance to an exhibition in the in the history of this most prominent Paris museum.

SUPPORTED BY
Cézanne to Giacometti: Highlights from Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie is supported by the Australian Government International Exhibitions Insurance (AGIEI) Program. This program provides funding for the purchase of insurance for significant cultural exhibitions. Without AGIEI, the high cost of insuring significant cultural items would prohibit this major exhibition from touring to Australia.