MoMA at NGV – New York’s Best Art comes to Melbourne

When you walk into an exhibition and the first artwork that greets you is a Van Gogh, you know you are in for a visual treat.

MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art is an international exclusive which features more than 200 works from New York’s iconic Museum of Modern Art. Co-Curated by teams at MoMA and the NGV, this unique collaboration gives Melbournians a taste of one of the largest and most influential collections of modern and contemporary art in the world.

Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Joseph Roulin 1889

This will be the first time that such a large number of works from MoMA’s collection has been displayed in Victoria in twenty-two years. Many of the works in this exhibition have never been seen in Australia before.

If you’ve ever wanted to be surrounded by works of the worlds most iconic artists, this is the exhibition to see. Prepare to have your mind blown!

Exhibition image of MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, 2018 on display at NGV International from 9 June – 7 October
Photo: Tom Ross

Me as I walk into the first room: “Oh look a Van Gogh. Oh my a Gauguin! That can’t be a Seurat can it? How awesome is this! Holey Moley it’s a Henri Matisse!”

You sort of get the picture, all those iconic artworks and artist you’ve studied at school and admired in beautiful art books are all together in one exhibition space.

Georges-Pierre Seurat, French 1859–91, Evening, Honfleur 1886, oil on canvas, with painted wood frame, 78.3 x 94.0 cm (framed), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of Mrs. David M. Levy, 1957,Digital Image © The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2018

Take a closer look

Other artists include Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Piet Mondrian and Roy Lichtenstein.

Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning girl 1963

Piet Mondrian
Composition in red, blue, and yellow 1937–42

MoMA at NGV traces the development of art and design over the past 130 years, and showcases the men and women who shaped the modern art world we know today. It’s loosely organised into chronological thematic sections presented more in the mixed media style of the NGV, where paintings, sculpture and moving image intermix.

Exhibition image of MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, 2018 on display at NGV International from 9 June – 7 October
Photo: Tom Ross

Exhibition image of MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, 2018 on display at NGV, International from 9 June – 7 October, Photo: Tom Ross
Andy Warhol, American 1928–87, Marilyn Monroe 1967,screenprint, edition of 250

Exhibition image of MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, 2018 on display at NGV International from 9 June – 7 October Photo: Tom Ross

I took Emma along to the media preview and was delighted to see which works she connected with the most. I was quite surprised that she could identify some of the artworks from the artist’s styles, and pointed out that a work by Jackson Pollock was just like one a favourite story book ‘Olivia’. She was right, a Jackson Pollock does feature in the book and leads to hilarious shenanigans in the story.

Emma got a real ‘kick’ out of this piece!  Robert Gober, Untitled 1991

She was particularly enthralled by a video of an artist banging kitchen utensils and found it very humorous.

Who doesn’t love a good game of space invaders? I found it quite amusing that as an adult of a certain age this game brought back so many memories and great nostalgia of my childhood, but to Emma it was a curiosity as it was the first time she’d encountered it.

Exhibition image of MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, 2018 on display at NGV International from 9 June – 7 October
Photo: Tom Ross

Younger kids and families will enjoy NEW YORK! NEW YORK! a free children’s play space featuring a dedicated activity zone for children to build their own miniature 3D streetscapes, a photo booth inviting families to star in their own New York story, a marble run, a digital quiz about iconic New York City landmarks, and large-scale projected animations of NYC.

There is really so much to enjoy in this exhibition and I predict it’s going to be one of the biggest in the NGV’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series to date.