Winter Masterpieces

Today I went to the Winter Masterpieces exhibition of European Masters: Stadel Museum 19th - 20th Century, at the NGV.  I went with my friend from New York and a friend of hers.  We went in and looked around at some of the rooms, then went to a talk about the exhibition.  This was excellent, it went for about 45 minutes and had a good balance for people who know their art and those who know little.
It was interesting to hear how the political situation in Germany affected the artists.  There was also mention of how the invention of tubes of oil paint allowed outdoor painting. It is interesting to see how new technology can affect developments in art.  I tend to forget that those classic artists were also innovators and trying new ideas, breaking rules, etc - that they were not classic masters at the time. That came out clearly in the talk too.
I was impressed by the use of colour in the gallery, there were several rooms of paintings, representing different movements in the art, and they were presented in rooms that were painted in quite different colours, some of them very bright.  I am not sure if this is to replicate how the Frankfurt Gallery displays the works or if it was a design of the NGV.
The atmosphere at the gallery was great.  It was Wednesday evening and there were people eating and drinking in the foyer area, more people were in the Great Hall, listening to the band that was playing there. Others were in at the exhibition.  It was relaxed, happy and a great place to be.