More than 60 artworks by Vincent van Gogh will be coming to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in 2017, many of which have never been shown in Australia.
The world premiere exhibition, Van Gogh and the Seasons, will be next year’s instalment of the NGV’s Winter Masterpieces series, comprised of 40 paintings and 25 drawings.
Announced on Friday, the exhibition will be presented in four sections, devoted to each season, under the curation of art historian Sjraar van Heugten, former head of collections at the Van Gogh Museum. Works from van Gogh’s own art collection will be included, along with additional documentary material.
Tony Ellwood, director of the NGV, described it as a “true coup” for the gallery.
“Van Gogh was a true original. His love of the seasons was deeply profound and played an important role in his life and practice. 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.”
The announcement was made as the gallery’s 2017 autumn/winter program was announced, including the most comprehensive exhibition of work by Katsushika Hokusai, the founding father of manga, seen in Australia.
Opening in July 2017 and featuring 129 prints, four paintings and 10 rare books on loan from Japan’s Ukiyo-e Museum in Matsumoto, the self-titled exhibition will be accompanied by a selection of Hokusai works from the NGV Collection, including his most famous image, A Great Wave.
The NGV also announced Festival of Photography, which will take place in March across 11 gallery spaces and feature work by Bill Henson, Zoë Croggon and Patrick Pound, as well as William Eggleston Portraits, an Australian exclusive exhibition of the American photographer’s work, which is currently showing at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
In December, NGV Australia will exhibit the work of a broad range of Indigenous artists in a group show, Who’s Afraid Of Colour? With an in-depth focus on major female artists, including Julie Gough, Destiny Deacon, Emily Kam Kngwarray, Queenie McKenzie and Nonggirrnga Marawili, it will feature “bold statements that explore colour and assert the politics of identity”.
• Van Gogh and the Seasons opens at NGV International on 28 April
