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MAI 2015
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ARTS
Monet à Matisse L'âge de l'impressionisme français . . . 16 mai a 29 novembr e
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onet to Matisse: The Age of French Impressionism, on view May 16 through November 29 in the Museum of Art, showcases vibrant paintings by the European and American artists who revolutionized the art world in the late nineteenth century. Monet to Matisse features more than 60 paintings and pastel drawings from the renowned collection of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee. The exhibition includes landscapes, portraits, interiors, and still lifes by leaders of French Impressionism: Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissarro, and Alfred Sisley, as well as works by noted Americans Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent. Major paintings by Post-Impressionist artists Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Marc Chagall, and Georges Braque complete the exhibition.
Organized thematically, the subject matter of Monet to Matisse ranges from shimmering seacoasts and sunbathed rural Normandy to lively Parisians socializing in cafés, attending the ballet, or strolling leisurely on the city’s newly renovated grand boulevards. Landscapes and seascapes fill the gallery walls with glorious colors and light, while interior views capture the vivacity of modern Paris. Specially designated labels examine the glamorous fashions of the period.
The enduring legacy of Impressionism is its radical break from accepted traditions of what and how to Edgar Degas (French, 1834 – 1917), Dancer Adjusting Her Shoe, 1885, charcoal and pastel on paint. Stimulated by the Impaper18 ¾ x 23 ½ inches. Collection of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens; Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. pressionists’ use of broad Hugo N. Dixon, 1975.6 brushstrokes and pure color, an early 20th-century group of artists departed conspicuously from Monet to Matisse is an expansive view of nineteenth-century French naturalism and charted a path to cubism and abstraction. The exhibipainting and its influences. It is a story of artistic freedom and the tion concludes with works by Matisse, Gauguin, Cézanne, Chagall, shift from stilted academic historicism to near abstraction. Paintings and Braque. by artists known as the Barbizon School, a generation older than the Impressionists, introduce the exhibition. Noted for an emphasis on rural imagery, these canvases portray romanticized images of peasants in charming scenes executed in a customary palette. By the 1870s, a new generation of artist rejected this tradition.
Claude Monet (French, 1840 – 1926), Port of Dieppe, Evening, 1882, oil on canvas, 23 x 28 3/8 inches. Collection of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis; Gift of Montgomery H. W. Ritchie, 1996.2.7
Paul Cézanne (French, 1839 – 1906), Trees and Rocks near the Château Noir, ca. 1900-06, oil on canvas, 24 3/8 x 20 ¼ inches. Collection of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens; Museum Purchase from Cornelia Ritchie and Ritchie Trust No. 4, 1996.2.20
In 1874, a group of young painters—including Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, and Renoir—organized an exhibition independent of the official French Salon, which did not approve of their new style. Called “Impressionists” because their paintings appeared to capture a fleeting vision of light on a subject rather than the thing itself, the artists often worked en plein air, or out of doors. Impressionism is characterized by quick brushwork and unblended paint applied directly to the canvas, creating shape and volume through the contrast of colors.
Most of the artists featured in Monet to Matisse were part of a rich circle of intellectuals, writers, and musicians and through the Museum’s audio guide and smart phone app, visitors will experience the music, dance, and literature that inspired the painters in the exhibition. Visitors of all ages will enjoy the hands-on activities incorporated into the galleries. In its nearly 80-year history, this is the first time the Museum has hosted an exhibition of French Impressionism. Through the eyes of the artists represented in Monet to Matisse and the paintings they created, viewers will experience the enchantment of the “City of Light,” the French countryside, and the foundation of the most important artistic movements of the twentieth century. Admission is free to MWPAI members and children 12 and younger. General admission is $10 and $5 for full-time students.