Masterpieces to draw in crowds

Some 80 paintings and sculptures from the collection of Werner and Gabrielle Merzbacher go on show at the Royal Academy this week.

Gabrielle was left a small but remarkable group of works by her grandparents, and the couple have spent the past 30 years building that into a collection that explores the great movements in western art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Masterpieces from Impressionism, Fauvism, German Expressionism and the Russian avant-garde highlight the underlying unity of the collection, namely the emotional and abstract properties of colour.

Among the outstanding works on show are Picasso's 'The Couple', Maurice de Vlaminck's 'Dancer Of The "Rat Mort" (The Girl With The Hat)' and Modigliani's 'Jeanne Hebuterne Seated'. The pictures are rarely shown together and the exhibition is the only opportunity for the European public to view these works and see how the Merzbachers' eye for quality has created one of Europe's great private collections.

Masters Of Colour: Derain To Kandinsky, Sat 27 Jul-Sun 17 Nov, Royal Academy Of Arts, Piccadilly, W1 (020-7300 8000).