A new exhibition at Hazelhurst Gallery has been described as "the story of modernism but done with a more individual eye instead of a corporate eye".
Edmund Capon, Hazelhurst Gallery patron and former director of the Art Gallery of NSW, voiced the opinion during a visit to Hazelhurst on Wednesday for a preview of the exhibition: The Triumph of Modernism in the Art of Australia.
Capon will officially open the exhibition this Friday, March 27.
It looks at the evolution of the Australian identity since the end of WWII and its growth in self-confidence as a nation.
It also brings together 50 significant Australian paintings of 26 artists from post-WWII up until today.
They include Russell Drysdale, Arthur Boyd, Charles Blackman, Brett Whiteley and John Olsen.
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Art Gallery director Belinda Hanrahan said it was the most significant exhibition to open at the gallery since the Brett Whiteley exhibition in 2013.
The works are on loan from the collection of the TarraWara Museum of Art in Victoria and were given to the museum by collectors Eva and Marc Besen.
Many works have not been lent to another museum before.
‘‘The exhibition shows that moment when the Australian identity really took note of the bush and the barren landscape. The influence of the history of European art was gone and Australia found its confidence,’’ Ms Hanrahan said.
Each artist in the collection has two paintings and they are clustered by theme or the relationship of the artists.
Two works from Arthur Boyd’s famous ‘‘Bride’’ series hang next to two of Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly works.
A section shows the urban side of Australia through Melbourne artist Howard Arkely’s images of typically Australian suburban homes and West Australian artist Joanna Lamb’s beach shacks.
These hang opposite William Delafield Cook’s hyper-realistic image of Hanging Rock in country Victoria.
‘‘It’s like they are all looking at each other and makes you wonder what they are saying to each other,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s a panorama of Australian art. It’s not just the most famous Australian artists — the exhibition shows some of their best works.
‘‘It is in our charter to bring good art to the shire."
‘‘So we are indebted to Edmund Capon to use his amazing eye to select these works.’’
Mr Capon selected the 50 works from the TarraWarra collection to show the journey of modernism in art.
He said that Eva and Marc Beson, who became such passionate collectors of Australian art, assembled such a comprehensive collection of Australian artists with their own eye.
‘‘It’s not a collection selected by a committee but selected by two pairs of interested and interesting eyes,’’ he said.
‘‘There are two strings to the show. The first is the history of the triumph of modernism in Australian art.
‘‘The second is the the story of the journey of Eva and Marc Beson in compiling their collection.
‘‘It is the story of modernism but done with a more individual eye instead of a corporate eye.
‘‘Essentially it is the story of Australian art moving from the romantic and impressionism and post-impressionism into the modern.
‘‘The exhibition is a good example of the pillars of Australian art — the really good Nolans, Boyds and Bracks.’’
The first work visitors will see as they walk into the exhibition gallery is Salute to Cerberus by John Olsen.
‘‘This painting has become a hallmark for the show,’’ Mr Capon said.
‘‘It has got all of Olsen’s sense of celebration, incorporating his joie de vivre.’’
The Triumph of Modernism in the Art of Australia is at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery from March 28 to May 24. Entry is free.