It reads like a who’s who of the art world – Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Piet Mondrian, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso and more – and it’s heading to Adelaide for an Australian-exclusive exhibition.
Featuring works never-before-seen in the country, Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition feature masterworks from
the acclaimed Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio and will open at the Art Gallery of South Australia in July as the debut exhibition in AGSA’s new Winter Art Series.
The exhibition traces a ground-breaking period in art history through 57 seminal works by the most influential European and American artists of the 19th and 20th centuries, telling the story of succeeding generations of painters and how the styles they invented – from Impressionism to Cubism, Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism – defied tradition and transformed modern art.
Monet to Matisse presents a rare opportunity for Australian audiences to experience landmark works by pre-eminent artists, from Impressionists such as Degas, Monet, Berthe Morisot and Pierre-Auguste Renoir to examples of the European and American avant-garde including Henri Matisse, Mondrian, Picasso and Robert Rauschenberg and the bold abstract paintings by Josef Albers, Helen Frankenthaler and Willem de Kooning.
Amongst these celebrated paintings from the Toledo Museum of Art will be a selection of paintings and works on paper from AGSA’s collection, including works by Manet, Matisse, Picasso and Whistler, and a remarkable drawing by Édouard Vuillard, highlighting the international significance of AGSA’s collection.
Presented in partnership with the South Australian Government through the South Australian Tourism Commission, AGSA’s Winter Art Series is a major new initiative that brings major international exhibitions exclusively to Adelaide during the winter seasons from 2026-29, celebrating Adelaide’s position as a vibrant cultural destination through exhibitions from world-renowned art collections and complemented by curated experiences and events.
AGSA Director Jason Smith said the exhibition would, “reveal one of art history’s most transformative periods through a truly outstanding collection of 57 treasures from one of the United States’ finest art museums”.
“This important collaboration with the Toledo Museum of Art will see masterworks travel to Australia for the first time, on display exclusively at the Art Gallery of South Australia throughout winter 2026.
“From van Gogh’s luminous haystacks to Monet’s iconic water lilies, visitors will encounter paintings by some of the world’s most influential artists - the innovators and trailblazers of their time whose work defied traditions and whose legacies continue to reverberate today.”
Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition is on display at the Art Gallery of South Australia from 11 July – 8 November 2026 and will be accompanied by a series of public programs and events. Limited early bird tickets on sale now at agsa.sa.gov.au.
Pictured are Piet Mondrian, Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, and Gray, 1922, and Claude Monet, Water Lilies, c.1922
