Review: MONET TO MATISSE: DEFYING TRADITION at Art Gallery Of South Australia

Reviewed by Tori Nguyen, Thursday 9th July 2026.

The media preview for the AGSA Winter Art Series 2026 - Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition, was held on Thursday 9th July at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

Speakers included Robert Young (Welcome to Country), Jason Smith, Director, AGSA; Sarah Andrews, Assistant Minister for Arts; Andrea Gardner, Deputy Director, Museum of Art, Erin Corrales-Diaz, Curator of American Art, Toledo Museum of Art, Tansy Curtin, Assistant Director, Artistic and Collection Programs, AGSA.

This Australian-exclusive exhibition, featuring famous, iconic Impressionist, Cubist, Surrealist, and Abstract Expressionist masterpieces, is organised by the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio. Approximately half of the works have travelled from the acclaimed cultural institution in the US, enriched and complemented by pieces from AGSA's own collection.

Cézanne, Degas, Picasso, Renoir, and van Gogh, are several of the artists represented, amongst numerous influential European and American artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. While most of the 57 works displayed are oil paintings on canvas, many presented in elaborate frames, there are also drawings and prints on paper, hung on traditional white and coloured walls. The exhibition is held across five gallery spaces in the western wing of AGSA, curated in structured sections taking audiences across the Trans-Atlantic, from Paris to New York City.

The exhibition season runs from 11th July to 8th November 2026, and is an unmissable opportunity for art and history lovers, and students to witness and enjoy. Being in the presence of these world-famous masterpieces, by recognisable artists that have not only defied tradition, but also created new ways and inspiration for countless contemporary creators, is an experience that may possibly require more than one visit.