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Monet works highlight NGV winter showcase

Liz HobdayAAP
French Impressionist pieces from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts will be on display at the NGV.
Camera IconFrench Impressionist pieces from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts will be on display at the NGV.

Masterpieces by Degas, Monet and Renoir will feature at the National Gallery of Victoria's winter showcase in June.

More than 100 French Impressionist pieces, many never seen in Australia before, will travel from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts for the show, which will be held only in Melbourne.

"Paintings by the Impressionists are beloved worldwide for the artistic innovation and visual curiosity they represent, as well as for their breathtaking use of colour," NGV director Tony Ellwood said.

The late-19th century Impressionist movement was led by a handful of radical artists who often painted directly from nature, exploring colour and light.

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The exhibition will include the artists Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Mary Cassatt, and will feature an entire room dedicated to Claude Monet's landscapes of the French countryside.

The NGV's winter masterpieces series is usually a hit for the gallery, bringing seven million people through its doors since the series began in 2004, including interstate and international tourists.

That kind of success will be much needed in 2021, after the gallery's visitor numbers dropped dramatically last year.

The NGV was forced to shut in mid-March when the pandemic hit and only reopened towards the end of November.

The NGV's surplus dropped from $5.7 million to $2.5 million over the 2019/20 financial year.

French Impressionism will run from June to October 2021 at NGV International.

To coincide with the show at NGV International, NGV Australia at Federation Square will present "She-Oak and Sunlight", showcasing Australian Impressionism.

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