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Monet & Japan
An article about the opening of the blockbuster exhibition Monet & Japan at the National Gallery of Australia.With help from Art Indemnity Australia, the blockbuster exhibition Monet & Japan opens at the National Gallery this month.
The exhibition presents Monet's personal exploration of the pictorial possibilities of Japanese art, and illustrates a unique artistic interchange between two very different cultures.
The exquisitely considered exhibition consists of 39 of Monet's most brilliant and best known paintings, a range of Japanese woodblock prints, sketch books, and painted scrolls and screens. The Japanese component of the exhibition vividly demonstrates Monet's strong relationship with Japanese art.
Monet & Japan aims to be more than an exhibition of 'Japonisme', in which Japanese works are incorporated in order to principally explain or illustrate Western interpretations of them. Rather, Monet & Japan aims to display two very separate, but intersceting narrative streams-revealing profound changes in Monet's painting styles and practice, while it simultaneously presents an excellent survey of Japanese art from the Momoyama and Edo periods.
The exhibition will be on display at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra until June 11, after which it travels to the Art Gallery of Western Australia as part of the Government's strategy of widening access by Australians to the world's cultural icons.
The Government continues to play a key role in bringing great artworks to Australia through Art Indemnity Australia. The scheme, managed by the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, has allowed some
$2.2 billion in artworks and other cultural treasures to be bought to Australia during the year.
The program acts as insurer and the Commonwealth carries the financial risk in case of any loss or damage to an indemnified artwork. Without this program, the high cost of commercial insurance for major touring exhibitions would make many exhibitions unviable. To reduce the risk to the Commonwealth, managing organisations and venues must meet stringent administrative and security criteria.
Since 1979, 82 exhibitions valued at over $6.8 billion have been brought to Australia under the program. This has enabled many Australians to see and enjoy some of the world's finest and most famous cultural works from The Entombed Warriors to Rembrandt: A Genius and His Impact.
The Art Indemnity Australia program, with its emphasis on exhibitions from overseas, complements the Visions of Australia program. Visions of Australia assists the touring of exhibitions of cultural property from Australian sources.
Contact
For further information about the Art Indemnity Australia and Visions of Australia programs see the website at www.dcita.gov.au