On this day in 1984, the then Australian National Gallery was abuzz with excitement on the eve of The Great Impressionists exhibition opening.
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The exhibition of works from the Courtauld Collection in London was the gallery's first 'blockbuster' play, following on from a showing of Chinese terracotta warriors the year before. In 1984, the gallery was only two years old.
The impressionists collection was 100 works by masters including Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso. So a few biggies then.
To give some sense of the importance of the exhibition, art critic Sasha Grishin described it in that edition as the most important Impressionist exhibition ever to visit Australia. A sign of the times, the exhibition was sponsored by Wang computers.
Backing that Australians will always love the Impressionists, next week the NGA opens Monet: Impressionist Sunrise as its winter blockbuster.
