MELBOURNE.- The National Gallery of Victoria’s blockbuster exhibition, CARTIER, which closes on 4 October, has dazzled more than 200,000 visitors since it opened in Melbourne in June. Created by London’s Victoria & Albert Museum in partnership with the NGV, and in collaboration with Maison Cartier, the exhibition features nearly 400 extraordinary jewels, timepieces and precious objects owned and worn by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Rihanna, Andy Warhol, Princess Margaret, The Duchess of Windsor, Dame Nellie Melba, the Maharaja of Patiala, the Begum Aga Khan III, and heiresses including Daisy Fellowes and Barbara Hutton.
Exclusive to Melbourne, this adapted and expanded presentation of CARTIER features nearly 300 works never-before-seen in Australia. Revealing Maison Cartier’s unparalleled reputation for design excellence, craftsmanship and technical innovation, CARTIER is the largest exhibition on the global jewellery house ever staged in Australia.
The scenography for the Melbourne presentation has been designed for NGV by acclaimed Dutch design studios Sabine Marcelis and CLOUD. Inspired by the shapes and colours of gemstones, their colour-drenched exhibition design creates a highly immersive environment in which to experience the fascinating history of Cartier from c.1900 to the present.
The exhibition is presented as part of the Victorian Government’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition series, which brings major cultural events to Melbourne each year. Since its inception in 2004, nearly 8 million visitors from Victoria and around the world have experienced a Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition.
Minister for Major Events Anthony Carbines said: ‘We're proud to back events like the Cartier Exhibition, because they cement Melbourne as the major events capital of the world. This is just one part of our major events calendar, attracting visitors from around the globe and supporting almost 17,000 Victorian jobs.’
Minister for Creative Industries Vicki Ward said: 'These incredible attendance figures demonstrate the wide appeal of contemporary art exhibitions and showcases why NGV is Australia’s most visited gallery.'
NGV Director Tony Ellwood AM said: ‘We are delighted that more 200,000 people have visited this extraordinary exhibition. With only a few weeks left until it closes, we encourage visitors to come and see this Australian exclusive exhibition that features incredible loans from around the globe.’
The exhibition charts the evolution and artistic legacy of the maison, including its transformation at the turn of the twentieth century by brothers Louis, Pierre and Jacques Cartier, grandsons of the house’s founder Louis-Franois Cartier. The brothers established branches in Paris, London and New York, creating the first internationally recognised jewellery maison, and honed Cartier’s inimitable style by bringing design and manufacturing in-house.
With an illustrious client list of royalty and aristocracy, Cartier was described as ‘the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers’ and were granted their first Royal Warrant by Britain’s King Edward VII in 1904. Cartier’s reputation later broadened thanks to the devotion of leading creatives from the worlds of cinema, music and fashion.
Among the exhibition’s most arresting highlights is a collection of more than 30 magnificent tiaras, including a spectacular display of 24 tiaras in the final gallery. Tiaras, a timeless symbol of royalty, glamour and artistry, represent the pinnacle of the jeweller’s art, and some of Cartier’s most celebrated creations. With symbolic links to the laurel wreaths of classical antiquity and celestial halos, the tiara has been worn for centuries across cultures from Asia to Europe.
The exhibition features show-stopping works from the V&A and Cartier Collection, as well as key international loans from the British Museum, Qatar Museums, Muse des Arts dcoratifs in Paris, Collections of HSH the Prince of Monaco, Al Thani Collection and private lenders. The exhibition also features a wealth of archival material drawn from the Cartier Archives in Paris, London and New York.
The Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition CARTIER will be on display at NGV International from 12 June – 4 October 2026.
