Van Gogh, Monet and Degas: C E L E B R AT I N G T H E W E S T E R N C A N O N
Édouard Manet (1832–1883), On the Beach, Boulogne-sur-Mer, 1868. Oil on canvas. Photo: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
by Steven Ward “This is the first exhibition in a long time of such renowned Mississippians have a rare opportunity this year to see iconic French and Dutch artists in Mississippi. Many pieces from the paintings and sculptures created by seminal French artists of collection have never been on view the 19th and 20th centuries. The in the state previously,” said Betsy Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) Bradley, director of the Mississippi in Jackson is hosting Van Gogh, Museum of Art. Monet, Degas, and Their Times: The collection features more The Mellon Collection of French than 74 paintings and sculptures — Art from the Virginia Museum of both monumental and intimately Fine Arts. scaled. The exhibit showcases major “This is the first traveling exschools of French art including hibition of the Mellon Collection Romanticism, Impressionism and Cubism spanning 150 years. This since Mrs. Mellon’s bequest to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in exhibition features artwork from 2014,” said Roger Ward, the mumodern French masters that are well known in the United States seum’s deputy director of art and programs. and the world, including Edgar Bradley said visitors can expect Degas, Eugène Delacroix, Edouard a trip to France through time and Manet, Claude Monet, Berthe the eyes of some of the most Morisot, Pablo Picasso, Henri important artists in history. Rousseau and Vincent van Gogh. “Since travel continues to be The pieces all come from Paul Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pensive (LaSongeuse), 1875. Oil on paper on canvas. limited, MMA is excited to transand Rachel “Bunny” Lambert Photo by Katherine Wetzel port visitors to Paris and the Mellon, among the most philanFrench countryside with this exhibition. Through equestrian thropic art collecting couples of the last century. The Mellons’ paintings, views of Parish urban cityscapes and landscapes of personal interests, commitment to modernism and prescient the French countryside, visitors will have a sense France in the collection strategies are evident in the grouping. 19th and 20th centuries, Bradley said. This exhibition was organized by the Virginia Fine Arts Bradley’s favorite piece in the exhibit is by Monet. Museum. Its presentation in Jackson is sponsored by the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation.
SOME PIECES INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBITION: 8 TODAY | JULY 2020
• Vincent van Gogh, “Daisies” • Claude Monet, “Field of Poppies” • Pierre Bonnard, “The Dining Room” • Paul Gauguin, “Still Life with Oysters”
• Edward Degas, “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” • Vincent van Gogh, “The Wheat Field Behind St. Paul’s Hospital, St. Remy
