French Impressionism: a Melbourne Masterclass series
Presented in partnership with NGV's 2025 Melbourne Winter Masterpieces®
French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Please note the 2025 program has now concluded
About the masterclass series
The Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative is excited to present a series of masterclasses drawing upon the expertise of three academics from the Faculty of Arts to provide unique insight and to enrich your experience of this year’s Melbourne Winter Masterpieces: French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The University’s Learning Partnership with the NGV provides an opportunity to spend an evening (or three!) in the gallery hosted by Dr Olivia Meehan, art historian and object-based learning specialist from the Faculty of Arts.
The masterclasses will take you on a journey from before the Impressionists through to the art appreciation and collecting practices of some discerning Bostonians in the 19th Century. You’ll also hear directly from the curators who have worked so passionately, not once but twice to bring this incredible exhibition to Melbourne!
Masterclass attendees will enjoy:
- stimulating presentations from Associate Professor Bertrand Bourgeois, Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee, and Dr Georgina Walker;
- light refreshments in the Garden Restaurant after each masterclass presentation;
- exclusive after-hours access to the exhibition and NGV Design Store, allowing you to explore with a fraction of the usual crowds.
Please note: registrations close one week prior to each masterclass.
Image credit:
Claude Monet
Grainstack (snow effect), 1891.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Gift of Miss Aimée and
Miss Rosamond Lamb in memory
of Mr. and Mrs. Horatio Appleton Lamb.
Photo © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
All Rights Reserved.
Before the Impressionists: the Barbizon school and Eugène Boudin
What led to the development of Impressionism?
Who were the mentors of the Impressionists and how were they trained? How did “plein-air” painting become possible, popular and even accepted by the institutions and the critics? What were the conditions that brought forward this first modernist revolution, and the work of painters such as Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, or Cézanne?
Join Associate Professor Bertrand Bourgeois to consider Impressionism in the artistic, historical, and social context of 19th Century Paris. We’ll introduce the Impressionists' teachers and mentors and ask questions about the evolution of painting techniques and style.
Presented by Associate Professor Bertrand Bourgeois
Bertrand Bourgeois is an Associate Professor in French Studies, and the current Convenor of French in the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne. He is a specialist of 19th and 20th Century French Literature and Visual Culture. His latest monograph Petits poèmes à voir (Paris: Hermann, 2020) deals with the relationship between French prose poetry and visual arts from 1848 to 1945.
With NGV Senior Curator of International Art Dr Ted Gott
Dr Ted Gott is Senior Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. He has curated and co-curated 29 exhibitions; and has published widely on Australian, British and French art.
The Paris of the Impressionists 1860-1900
Impressionism is one of the most recognisable and cherished of all painting styles.
We celebrate iconic paintings such as Claude Monet’s Impression, soleil levant (1872) and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876), but where did their inspiration come from?
In what ways might the Impressionist movement have been connected to the dramatic social changes and political upheavals of the time? How was it related to the other ‘schools’ of the 19th Century?
Join Professor Peter McPhee to situate Impressionism in the Parisian context, and ask questions about the history of artistic ‘taste’.
Presented by Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee
Peter McPhee is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Melbourne. He has published widely on the history of modern France, notably Liberty or Death: the French Revolution (2016) and An Environmental History of France (2024). He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences and was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2012. He is the Chair of the History Council of Victoria and Patron of the History Teachers Association of Victoria.
With NGV Senior Curator, International Exhibitions, Dr Miranda Wallace
Dr Miranda Wallace is Senior Curator of International Exhibitions at the NGV. She is responsible for research and curatorial coordination of major loan exhibitions in NGV’s International program, working in partnership with specialist curators and museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Musée d’Orsay and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Private Art Collectors, Collecting and Cultural Philanthropy
What role did private collectors play in establishing the Museum of Fine Arts' remarkable holdings? How did private mansion collections influence museum interiors and the display of fine art?
The Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) was born from the private collections of civic minded individuals and philanthropists in 1870. This masterclass situates the MFA within a historical context and sheds light on the contributions of private collectors and benefactors in their quest to make private art collections accessible to the public.
Join Dr Georgina Walker to learn more about the individuals and philanthropists who helped shape public institutions in America and beyond.
Presented by Dr Georgina Walker
Georgina Walker is Lecturer in Art History and Curatorship at the University of Melbourne. She has developed a significant academic profile in the emerging field of private museums and cultural philanthropy at the University of Melbourne, in Australia and internationally, with an innovative specialisation in private and public museum studies, historical and contemporary museum/curatorial and art market studies. This expertise contributes to the versatility and scope of her research, allowing Georgina to use historical knowledge/developments to interrogate/interpret contemporary issues, and vice versa. The rise of private museums has dominated her scholarly research since 2010 - Master Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation. Her monograph The Private Collector's Museum: Public Good Versus Private Gain (Routledge, 2019) is the first study to connect the rising popularity of private museums with new models of philanthropy, collecting and complex inter-relationships between private and public museums.
With NGV Curator, International Exhibition Projects, Meg Slater
Meg Slater is Curator, International Exhibition Projects, NGV. Since 2017, she has worked on eight of the NGV’s major international exhibitions, including MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, 2018; Keith Haring | Jean Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines, 2019/20; Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi, 2023; and Yayoi Kusama, 2024/25. She was also one of the five curators who organised QUEER: Stories from the NGV Collection, 2022. She holds a degree in Art History and Business from the University of Queensland and a Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne.
Contact
Need help or have questions?
Contact us at arts-engage@unimelb.edu.au.