From Friday until July 27, the museum and gallery will show 40 works from Australasian artist Euan Macleod.
The exhibition, "Euan Macleod - Painter'', is coming to Alexandra as part of a 12-stop New Zealand tour which started in Oamaru in December.
Mr Watson said it was the "biggest ever'' exhibition in Central Otago or Queenstown Lakes, in terms of scale, value and calibre of artist.
The collection was insured for $700,000 and the more expensive paintings were worth about $85,000, he said.
The largest piece is 5.3m long.
Many of the paintings depict a featureless figure in isolated landscapes.
"It's relatively easy for people to engage with. It's not too far out.''
Ten other paintings by Macleod will be for sale at its shop.
It was "extraordinary luck'' the museum received the exhibition, he said.
It was originally set to be shown at the Pataka museum and art gallery in Porirua, but was cancelled due to scheduled renovations on the building.
Security at Central Stories was improved for the exhibition, but Mr Watson did not want to say in what ways.
He expected interest from Queenstown, as well as Dunedin locals travelling through Alexandra during ski season, he said.
"It shows Central Stories can have relevance not just to Alexandra, but the entire region.''
An official opening will be held on Friday, July 17, at 5.30pm, attended by Macleod and curator and art critic Gregory O'Brien.
The next day, they will give two talks, one of which will include Central Otago writers Brian Turner, Jillian Sullivan and Michael Harlow.
Macleod was born in Christchurch and moved to Sydney in 1981.
This was the "shape of things to come'' for the museum and gallery. An exhibition of similar scale, involving former Southland and now Dunedin-based artist Nigel Brown, would be staged early next year, Mr Watson said.
