Gippsland Art Gallery has announced it will host a landmark exhibition celebrating the foundations and legacy of Australian Impressionist landscape painting next year.
Titled The Golden Hour: Australian Impressionism – Origins, Icons & Echoes, the exclusive exhibition will run from March 6 to July 11 2027.
Organised in partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) as the primary lender, the showcase brings some of the country’s most celebrated national masterpieces directly to regional Victoria.
The exhibition will feature more than 90 works of art tracing a rare six-decade arc of Australian landscape painting.
Rather than focusing solely on the legendary Heidelberg School years (c.1880–1900), The Golden Hour will explore the two decades preceding (1860–1880) and following (1900–1920) this formative period.
Visitors will have the opportunity to view some of the most recognised works in Australian art history, including Tom Roberts’ Shearing the Rams (1890) and Frederick McCubbin’s Lost (1886).
The collection also includes 12 rare works from the infamous 1889 9×5 Impression Exhibition – a defining moment that fundamentally shaped the trajectory of Australian Impressionism.
To demonstrate the ongoing influence of the Australian bush on the modern creative consciousness, these historical works will be hung alongside contemporary landscape responses by modern artists Mary Tonkin and Michelle Hiscock.
By expanding the timeline across 60 years, the exhibition aims to show how artists reacted to the rapid social and economic changes occurring in Australia, from the optimism and gold-rush prosperity of the 1880s to the severe economic depression of the 1890s.
“The Golden Hour is an extraordinary opportunity to experience the story of Australian landscape painting, not as a collection of isolated masterpieces, but as a living continuum,” Gippsland Art Gallery Director Simon Gregg said.
“These are works that have become deeply embedded in our national imagination – the light, the bush, the weather, the people and the stories.
“To bring them together here in Gippsland, alongside earlier influences and contemporary responses, is incredibly exciting.”
The exclusive nature of the exhibition represents a major coup for East Gippsland’s regional tourism and Wellington Shire’s cultural profile.
Wellington Shire Council mayor Cr Cindy Madeley welcomed the announcement, highlighting the positive local impact of hosting an event of this scale.
“The Golden Hour celebrates something that belongs to all of us – our enduring relationship with the Australian landscape and the stories we have built around it,” Cr Madeley said.
“Bringing an exhibition of this calibre exclusively to Gippsland is a wonderful opportunity for our community and for visitors from across Victoria and beyond.
“It puts Wellington Shire firmly on the cultural map while inviting people to experience the art, landscape, hospitality and stories of our region, proudly known as ‘The Middle of Everywhere.'”
Further information, including ticketing announcements and public programs scheduled to run alongside the exhibition, will be updated on the Gippsland Art Gallery website.
