Introduced by the Victorian Government in 2004, Melbourne Winter Masterpieces is the name for an annual series of major exhibitions that aims to balance curatorial excellence with popular appeal.

Winter Masterpieces 2010 features two remarkable exhibitions – at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Tim Burton, and at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) European Masters from the Städel Museum at Berlin, which is undergoing the construction of a contemporary wing.

The latter is an outstanding exhibition of fine quality art, which will only be seen in Australia at Melbourne. So if you live in the other states and have the ability to drive, hop a bus, plane or train you need to come -  the depth and breadth of the art on show alone makes it outstanding. The show, curated by the Städel’s head of 19th century and modern art, Dr Felix Kramer, includes works by van Gogh, Matisse, Rousseau, Cezanne, Corot, Monet, Bonnard, Sisley, Picasso, Rodin, Courbet and Manet. Dr Kramer says this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to view some of the world’s most interesting and famous works. There are lots of paintings and a small, but very fine collection of sculptures. It is an impressive body of works the quality of which is rarely seen in Australia.

Painted by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in 1879, The truly sumptuous After the Luncheon with its vibrant light and saturated color was, for me, completely captivating.  Renoir was one late C19 and early C20 impressionist who seemingly found a balance between objectivity and subjectivity and between tradition and innovation which ultimately led to a style that he described as classical and decorative.

And did I mention that the show includes Edgar Degas’ shimmering Orchestra Musicians (1871-1874), which features his famous ballerinas.  It is not a large work but it virtually leaps out of its frame beckoning you to cross the room to view it.

There were a few real surprises. The first was Johann H. W. Tischbein’s life-size portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, painted in Rome in 1787.

The Age in Melbourne art critic reported ‘no one in German museum circles thinks the Tischbein is a terribly good picture — the artist gave Goethe two left feet and distorted proportions — but it is the symbol of Germany’ and the curators at the NGV were surprised the Städel allowed it to travel.

Viennese-born director of the Städel, Max Hollein admitted it was not an easy decision to allow it to come to Australia. “Every other museum in Germany would have liked it [during the Städel’s renovation] and only after much reflection did we make the decision to send it,” he says. “On the one hand, this painting belongs to Frankfurt like nothing else and you expect to see it in Frankfurt. On the other hand, we liked the idea that this is bigger than Frankfurt. And here we have an opportunity to show it to a different public in a different context. When it comes back, it will not move for generations.”

The second surprise was a delightful Monet, here for a limited period before it leaves for a large Monet retrospective in Paris and the third a small captivating work by outstanding C19 German Romantic landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich.  The surprises just kept on coming and included some very special sculptures. I am sure there are many you will discover for yourself when you come to view this outstanding exhibition.

NGV Director Dr Gerard Vaughan said “Exclusive to Melbourne, European Masters provides an unprecedented opportunity to see a spectacular group of masterpieces spanning the dynamic and transforming years of the 19th and 20th century. There is something in this exhibition for everyone, from the beauty and immediacy of French Impressionism to the raw power of German Expressionism. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see superb pictures that rarely travel outside of Europe,” said Dr. Vaughan.

Melbourne Winter Masterpieces European Masters: Städel Museum, 19th-20th Century

19 June – 10 October 2010 National Gallery of Victoria – International 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

European Masters: Städel Museum, 19th – 20th Century brings together a remarkable collection of masterpieces by German artists alongside works by the greatest French, Belgian, Dutch and Swiss masters of the time. Included are iconic Neo-Classical, Realist, Impressionist and Symbolist works, through to breathtaking German Expressionist paintings and sculpture, rarely seen in Australia. Dates 19/06/2010 to 10/10/2010 | Times 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Price Adult: $23 Concession: $18 Child (ages 5-15): $11 Family (2 adults + 3 children): $60 NGV Member Adult: $16 NGV Member Family: $4 Images: Städel Museum,  Dürerstraße 2 60596 Frankfurt, Deutschland 069 605098-0 www.staedelmuseum.de

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