Melbourne’s much-loved exhibition series, Melbourne Winter Masterpieces, has reached a major milestone, welcoming its 8 millionth visitor since the series began.
A fixture of our cultural calendar, Melbourne Winter Masterpieces presents must-see annual exhibitions featuring works from the world’s greatest artists and collections.
The series which started in 2004, has generated more than $700 million in economic impact for Victoria, boosted Melbourne’s reputation as Australia’s cultural capital, and has now welcomed its 8 millionth visitor.
The series has become an annual drawcard for visitors from across Australia and beyond, and has enabled Victorians to get up close to priceless artworks and artefacts from across the globe, without leaving home.
The Melbourne Winter Masterpieces series has showcased exhibitions at NGV, Melbourne Museum and ACMI.
The series has driven huge winter visitation – with a record 796,277 people seeing Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at Melbourne Museum in 2011, while more than 462,000 visited Van Gogh and the Seasons in 2017 and 404,000 enjoyed MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art in 2018.
Other popular editions that captivated audiences include the Terracotta Warriors & Cai Guo-Qiang exhibition at the NGVin 2019, Tim Burton – The Exhibition at ACMI in 2010 and last year’s Pharaoh exhibition at NGV.
The 2025 Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition, French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, features one of the largest and most iconic collections of Impressionism to ever visit Australia, showcasing iconic works by legendary artists Monet, Renoir and Degas.
French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, runs at NGV until October 5, 2025.