MELBOURNE, 5 June 2025: Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot and more head to Melbourne for the NGV international-exclusive presentation of the major Melbourne Winter Masterpieces® exhibition, French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 6 June 2025.
Presented by the NGV in partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), an institution renowned worldwide for its rich holdings of Impressionist paintings, the exhibition features more than 100 iconic paintings, including additional works never-before-seen in Australia.
Originally presented at NGV in 2021, the exhibition closed just after it opened due to the global pandemic. The 2025 presentation of French Impressionism gives Australian audiences a rare, second chance to experience one of the largest and most significant collections of French Impressionism ever to visit Australia – all exclusively on loan to the NGV from the MFA’s renowned collection in Boston.
French Impressionism charts the trajectory of the late-nineteenth century artistic movement, highlighting the key figures at the centre of this period of radical experimentation who boldly rejected the conventions of the state-sponsored Salon and exhibited their ‘impressionistic’ works independently.
The exhibition evokes the artistic energy and intellectual dynamism of the period by placing emphasis on the thoughts and observations of the artists themselves, as captured through letters, journals and articles. Their voices reveal the social connections, artistic influences and personal rivalries that united the group of rebellious practitioners at the centre of this new art movement.
On Saturday 7 June to mark the opening of the exhibition a series of talks expanding on the themes of the exhibition will offer further insight into the works and artists on display. Dr Katie Hanson the William and Ann Elfers Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston will give a keynote talk titled Manet, Meurent and Modern Paris, presented in partnership with HSBC.
Offering further insight into the development of the Impressionist movement and the key figures involved, a one day course will be presented at the NGV International on Saturday 16 August, 2025.
