Conservators from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston must assess and approve each work for travel. Image: Supplied.

A summer holiday in Europe may still be off the cards for the time being, but, thanksto the trans-Tasman travel bubble, New Zealanders can experience a slice of France(by way of Boston) at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) this winter.

French Impressionism features a blockbuster collection of more than 100 artworks from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) — including prized paintings by Renoir and Monet — most of which have never been to Australia before.

But have you ever wondered how world-renowned artworks are moved around the globe? Unsurprisingly, transporting and installing 150-year-old masterpieces is an art within itself.
 

French Impressionism’s American roots
 

During the late-1800s and early-1900s, a large concentration of wealthy, American art collectors travelled to France. Because of this, many fine examples of French Impressionist art now reside not in Europe, but at Boston’s MFA.
 

Bringing the works of Monet to Toulouse-Lautrec and Mary Cassatt (the only American among the French Impressionist cohort) to Australia was an enormous logistical undertaking for the team at the NGV.

By Jo Stewart