Robertson Gift Brings Modernist Masters to Shepparton Art Museum

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) presents 'Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso' from now until September 20th, featuring works by Picasso, Degas, Matisse, and Dalí never before shown in Australia. The exhibition draws from the Julian and Josie Robertson collection, gifted to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in 2023. Dr Sophie Matthiesson, senior curator of historical international art at Auckland Art Gallery, curated the show. The Robertsons, an American couple, began collecting in the 1980s after Julian founded the world's second largest hedge fund. In 2006, they pledged 15 modernist masterpieces to Auckland Art Gallery, the largest philanthropic gift to the arts in New Zealand. Julian died in 2022, and the bequest arrived in 2023. The collection includes works by Cézanne, Gauguin, Braque, Mondrian, and Dalí, spanning Post-Impressionism to Surrealism. The exhibition also features acquisitions made possible by the gift, such as a Pointillist painting by Albert Dubois-Pillet and a Len Lye painting. Matthiesson highlights Picasso's 'Woman in a hairnet' (1938) as her favorite, noting it combines features of his lovers Dora Maar and Marie-Thérèse Walter. The show is designed by SAM Exhibition Manager Nick Baylart.