It's the world's finest collection of post-impressionism art ever to tour Australia, and if some people had had their way it might never have left Paris at all.
More than 100 works by masters including Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne, were removed from the walls of the Musee D'Orsay to make way for renovations.
But rather than storing the treasures behind closed doors, the museum made a bold decision to lend the collection for international exhibitions in Australia, the United States and Japan.
Masterpieces From Paris has its world premiere at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra on Friday.
The Musee D'Orsay will never again lend such a large collection of works, its president Guy Cogeval says.
"We will be able to have two or three of the Van Goghs, two or three of the Gauguins, but not all these masterpieces all together in one show," he told reporters in Canberra.
"It would be impossible."
The exhibition showcases works by more than 30 artists from the movement that developed in France during the second half of the 19th century.
It includes nine works by Gauguin, eight by Cezanne, five by Monet and seven by Van Gogh including a self portrait, his Starry Night and Bedroom at Arles.
Mr Cogeval admits there were some concerns about moving the priceless collection around the world.
"Maybe (there were concerns) one year ago, but finally there has been such spirit around the show."
"And it makes more sense than to keep them in storage for a whole year."
It's a real treat for audiences, because there are only a handful of post-impressionism works in Australia, and their "exorbitant price tags" ensure there never will be a major collection in this country, NGA director Ron Radford says.
"Australians should be grateful because we will never have this opportunity again."
The gallery expects the exhibition will attract record crowds because of the popularity of post-impressionism, a far cry from the reaction of the audiences of the period.
"The artists were reviled, especially by the public of the day," Mr Radford said.
"And they happen to be the artists that we now find the most popular, but my gosh, in their day poor Van Gogh only sold one or two paintings in his lifetime."
The gallery won't reveal the cost of hosting the exhibition, but says it came to "many, many" millions and the show was possible only thanks to government support.
The works are so valuable that they were couriered to Australia on separate flights.
The exhibition opens on Friday and runs through to April 2010, before heading off to Tokyo and San Francisco.
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