SomethingToDo2

The Proposition: See famous French masterpieces in Canberra

If you’re looking for a lovely way to pass an afternoon in our nation’s capital, may I suggest a sojourn to the National Gallery of Australia’s “Masterpieces from Paris” exhibition. It’s French, it’s post-impressionism, it’s all from the famed Musee d’Orsay in Paris, it’s a bunch of painters with names you recognise — like Vincent van Gogh and Cezanne — and even paintings that you will instantly know — like, van Gogh’s Bedroom in Arles. And today, the exhibition is open til 7pm.

I can only assume that it’s good, I attempted to go the day after Boxing Day with my 89-year-old grandmother and the line was so long that we decided not to bother waiting all afternoon for tickets. Instead, we went to the special Masterpieces from Paris gift shop and admired the branded wine and champagne, the lacy underwear, quirky jewellery and even some French alphabet flash cards for children. My grandma bought some postcards. Since everything is so branded, it was almost like actually seeing it. Plus, I’ve been to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and seen all the original paintings there and can assure you they were wonderful.

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Artist’s representation of the kind of merchandise for sale

The Musée d’Orsay is currently undergoing renovations until March 2011, so save your pennies for a later trip to Paris and head to Canberra’s NGA instead. I’m sure the line will be much shorter now as well.

The details: National Gallery of Australia, 10am-5pm Monday to Sunday, 10am-7pm Friday and Saturday. Runs until April 5. For real night owls, on selected nights in March, the exhibition will be open til 9pm followed by music from the likes of Renee Geyer and Claire Bowditch.