French Impressionism

Melbourne Winter Masterpieces^® 2025

French Impressionism is a major exhibition developed by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria. The exhibition charts the trajectory of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in late nineteenth-century France, highlighting the renowned avant-garde artists at the centre of this period of radical experimentation, who boldly rejected the artistic conventions of their time.

Drawn from MFA Boston’s rich collection of Impressionist masterworks, French Impressionism presents more than 100 paintings by key figures including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Paul Signac and Alfred Sisley. Audiences have the opportunity to experience the hallmarks of Impressionism: distinctive brushwork, vivid use of colour, innovative viewpoints, and depictions of subjects and places dear to the artists. The exhibition’s scenography draws inspiration from the grand nineteenth-century residences of East Coast American collectors – where works such as these would have been displayed – as well as some of the spaces beloved by the artists themselves.

Through ten thematic sections, French Impressionism evokes the artistic energy and intellectual dynamism of the period by placing emphasis on the thoughts and observations of the artists themselves. Their words, as recorded in letters, journals and articles, reveal the mutual admiration and personal connections that united the practitioners at the centre of this avant-garde movement.