ART EXHIBITIONS / Indelible impressions: Artists, curators and experts look back at the best shows of 1992

NORMAN ADAMS, keeper of the Royal Academy Schools: 'There was a little show at Waddington's of late Jack Yeats. There were some of the same pictures that had been shown at the Whitechapel but they looked better here. It was very moving. His late ones were by far his best. They are very lyrical and moving pieces. I suppose the most important show of the year was the Otto Dix at the Tate which I also very much enjoyed. Although I didn't like his late ones I found it very interesting. I love the German Expressionists.'

DAVID BARRIE, director of the National Art Collections Fund: 'The one that stands out for me is Allan Ramsay at the National Portrait Gallery, first seen at Edinburgh. The great thing about the exhibition was that it showed the development of his style and skill, from when he was learning the trade through to old age - when you see a sympathetic intelligence and a tenderness, specially in portraits of women. The famous one of his wife, Margaret, is one that really sticks in my memory. Also the young lady in pink dress, which may be his daughter. That's an extraordinarily powerful image, though unfinished. Wonderful colour harmonies, psychological penetration, love and tenderness.'

JOHN BELLANY, painter: 'Sometimes you see an exhibition which knocks you sideways. I feel that way about the Munch show at the National Gallery. Munch manifests the spirit of extremes of the North, both in landscape and the human condition, in a similar way to Ibsen, Strindberg and Sibelius. There is no halfway house with Munch. The people who inhabit his canvasses feel deeply. He delves into the Northern European psyche with a fearless ferocity. His work is so gutsy that when looking at the paintings one feels groggy and emotionally drained after a few minutes. He cares so much that it hurts to look at his paintings.'

MELANIE CLORE, director of Impressionist and Modern art, Sotheby's: 'I kept returning to the Juan Gris show at the Whitechapel. I must have seen it at least five or six times. The gallery really lent itself to the display, so sensitively hung. It illustrated what a great Cubist artist he was. Another superb show was Magritte at the Hayward. I loved the way that as you were led up the stairs, you could see through a sheet of glass, the extraordinary paintings he did later on. It gave you a snippet of what was what to come. It was a very revelatory show for me. I'd always thought of Magritte as a great image-maker. Through this show, I realised he wasn't just an ideas-man but a great painter.'

RICHARD HAMILTON, Pop artist: 'I've been working so hard on my own exhibitions, I haven't seen much. Of the very few exhibitions I have seen, Tony Carter at the Imperial War Museum lingered in my mind. He was a student of mine, which is one of the reasons I went. Also, Tim Head, another student of mine, at the Whitechapel. Carter's exhibition not only impressed me, but made me proud: his work is very cerebral. For Head to have transformed the Whitehapel was quite a feat. I'm a bit embarrassed that two students of mine are the ones that remain in my mind. But it's a fact . . .'

PATRICK HERON, painter: 'The best show of 1992 in this country was the Juan Gris at the Whitechapel. One has to congratulate them. It is brilliant to have got the first Gris show and amazing that there had not been one before. What is fascinating is the amazing colour. They are intensely powerful paintings. It makes you realize how dull reproductions really are. But the exhibition of the year has to be the Matisse in New York. I think the reason why Matisse has finally hit it is because he's so joyous - people want a way out of the mess were in at the moment.'

HENRY MEE, portrait painter: 'My favourite exhibition of the year is the Sickert show. It is not very well hung, it would have been lovely to have seen some light on the paintings, but there are some fantastic works in it. His High Steppers is my favourite painting in the exhibition. Sickert's life's work seemed to involve a simplified language of painting and there aren't any unesseccary brushmarks here. The picture has a tremendous ease about it. It's a marvellous painting to look at if you want to be inspired.'

GEORGINA NAYLER, director of the National Heritage Memorial Fund: 'I enjoyed Rembrandt at the National Gallery immensely. I didn't realise how much I liked Rembrandt until I saw those paintings. It was very interesting that the organisers included the reattributed paintings: even the non-expert eye could see the difference. I don't think I'd quite appreciated the quality of the physical features, like the hands and the skin, the exquisite painting of the lace, and character of the figures, warts and all, wrinkles and lines. I don't think the exhibition space is all it could have been, but the Rembrandt in those smaller, intimate rooms suited it very well.'

ANDREA SCHLIEKER, assistant director, Serpentine Gallery: 'There are so many shows I'd want to mention. But I'd pick out Rose Finn-Kelcey at the Chisenhale for a magic transformation of the exhibition space and her surprising use of materials - steam. And Marcus Taylor, who produced sculptures based on fridges and other household objects. Also, Abigail Lane at the Karsten Schubert gallery, for her imaginative use of the body: for example, she made wallpaper with bum-prints. Taylor and Lane have impressed me as the best two newcomers. I couldn't miss out Mark Wallinger at Anthony Reynolds gallery, for his witty water-sculpture. And Andreas Gursky, from Germany at Victoria Miro, for a show of deadpan photographs of crowd scenes.'

For details of Sickert, Munch and Ramsay see listings.

Catalogues: Otto Dix, Tate, pounds 25; Juan Gris, Yale, hardback pounds 40; Allan Ramsay, National Galleries of Scotland pounds 15.95; Sickert, Yale, pounds 18.90; Matisse Thames and Hudson, hardback pounds 48; Rembrandt, National Gallery publications, Paintings pounds 19.25, Drawings pounds 16.95; Munch, National Gallery, pounds 12.95.

(Photographs omitted)