You know the names of Cézanne, Picasso, and Matisse, but you might be surprised to learn how some of these legendary artists influenced Australia’s own art history.

This was one of the driving forces behind the National Gallery of Australia’s latest exhibition, Cézanne to Giacometti: Highlights from Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie.

Organised in partnership with Berlin’s Museum Berggruen, the major winter showcase takes a look back at some of the most pivotal moments in modern art throughout a 100-year-period — bringing together over 80 works from Berggruen’s collection with over 75 works from the National Gallery.

Not only does Cézanne to Giacometti trace the legacies and inspirations of some of Europe’s most celebrated artists, but it reveals how their Australian counterparts like Russell Drysdale, Grace Cossington Smith, John Passmore and Dorrit Black brought their ideas back home to shape the course of Australian art.

The inspiration began when Nicolas Berggruen — the son of Heinz Berggruen, the namesake of the Museum Berggruen in Berlin — visited the Canberra gallery in 2023.

‘Since that visit, we’ve been investigating the Museum’s collection,’ the National Gallery international art curator David Greenhalgh says.

He travelled to Berlin and to Paris as part of his research, where he began mapping out a ‘family tree’ that charts the intriguing connections between these distinctive artists, despite their different styles, mediums and personal backgrounds.

‘We tend to think that modern art movements are something that is distinctly European or American, but we need to remember that modernity is inherently about connectedness, and Australia is a part of the modern art story.’ David adds.

The highlights range from Cubism masterpieces by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Paul Cézanne’s Portrait of Madame Cézanne, and Swiss German artist Paul Klee’s colourful abstract paintings — just to name a few.

‘The exhibition is very diverse, and each room has a distinct identity and focus, but there is a storyline that connects it all together,’ David adds.

‘It is like travelling at warp speed through one hundred years of art history to get a snapshot of the 20th century.’

Cézanne to Giacometti: Highlights from Museum Berggruen / Neue Nationalgalerie is on show at the National Gallery of Australia from May 31 – September 21 2025. Get tickets here.