The National Gallery of Victoria will unveil the most expansive exploration of motherhood ever presented by an Australian art institution when MOTHER opens at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia on 27 March 2026.
Featuring more than 200 historical and contemporary works from the NGV Collection, the exhibition charts how the experiences of being and having a mother have shaped artistic expression across centuries, cultures and mediums.
Drawing on one of the oldest themes in art history, the exhibition traces depictions of mothers and children from cave walls and ancient Egyptian tombs to Renaissance frescos and contemporary practice. It investigates universal experiences such as joy, transformation, labour and expectation, while also highlighting culturally specific perspectives, including the deep relationship between motherhood, nature and Country within First Nations communities.
MOTHER brings together significant works by Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, Camille Henrot, David Hockney, Tracey Moffatt, Iluwanti Ken, Käthe Kollwitz, Patricia Piccinini and Rembrandt van Rijn, alongside Australian and international artists working across painting, weaving, moving image and sculpture.
Newly collected works make their NGV debut, including Ruth O’Leary’s Flinders Street series, created inside a public photobooth after the birth of her first child, and two pieces by Kate Just exploring knitted forms as metaphors for skin, resilience and renewal.
The exhibition also premieres two David Hockney acquisitions, the collage My mother sleeping, 1982, and the etching My mother with a parrot, 1973–74, as well as Hayley Millar Baker’s moving image work Entr’acte, 2023, honouring the focus and strength of Indigenous matriarchs.
MOTHER will be on display from 27 March to 12 July 2026. Entry is free. For more information visit NGV.MELBOURNE
