Monday, January 14, 2019

Monet to Matisse: Masterworks of French Impressionism from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens

My recently developed calendar of "must-see" art events showed that two exhibits (Atlanta High Museum and Telfair Museum) were relatively close to ending their runs so I bought an audiobook version of Michelle Obama's Becoming, jumped into my car, and hightailed it up to Savannah (GA) to see the Telfair Museum exhibit Monet to Matisse: Masterworks of French Impressionism from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens) before it shuttered the doors.

The Telfair Museum, the oldest public art museum in the south, was founded in 1883 with a bequest of the home and furnishings of local philanthropist Mary Telfair to the Georgia Society for use as a museum. The museum today is comprised of three buildings: Telfair Academy, Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters, and Jepson Center for the Arts. The Monet to Matisse exhibition is housed in the Jepson Center.

Telfair Museum Jepson Center (Source: telfair.org)

The Monet to Matisse exhibit is drawn from the permanent collection of Memphis' Dixon Gallery and Gardens museum. According to the museum website, "Late nineteenth and early twentieth century French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist landscapes, still life portraits, and figure paintings form the core of the Dixon's painting collection.

As curated, the Monet to Matisse exhibition "... illustrates the radical innovation launched by artists we know today as Impressionists and Post-Impressionists." The exhibition title conveys the period and style of paintings to be expected; and it delivers against this promise.




But it goes beyond that to include works outside the defined period. For example, The Palace, Belle Isle "reveals Matisse already abandoning his Post-Impressionist manner for the vivid and at times arbitrary color relationships that would characterize his Fauve style ... In this dynamic shoreline view where land, sea, and a boat merge in radiant color relationships, we see Matisse taking the first steps toward transforming the art of the next century."

Henri Matisse
The Palace, Belle Île, about 1896 - 1897

The exhibition also contains two pieces from the Modernist Marc Chagall.

Marc Chagall
Bouquet of Flowers with Lovers, 1927

Marc Chagall
Dreamer, 1945

At the other end of the spectrum, we see Henri Fantin-Latour's Still Life which hearkens back to the traditions of French Romanticism and Realism.

Henri Fantin-Latour
Still Life, 1869

A large majority of the exhibition pieces is shown in the pictures following.

Maximilien Luce
The Cathedral at Gisors, View of the Ramparts, 1898

Claude Monet
Port of Dieppe, Evening, 1882

Alfred Sisley
The Quays of the Seine during Snow Season, 1879

Alfred Sisley
The Seine at Billancourt, about 1877 - 78

Claude Monet
Village Street, about 1869 - 71

Jean-François Raffaelli
The Place d'Italie after the Rain, 1877

Paul Cézanne
Trees and Rocks, Near the Château Noir,
about 1900 - 1906

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
The Paver of the Chailly Road, Fontainebleu, ca. 1830 - 35

Camille Pissarro
View from the Artist's Studio at Éragny, 1894

Paul Signac
St. Briac, the Cross of the Seamen, 1885

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Wave, 1882

Berthe Morisot
Peasant Girl among Tulips

Henri Stanislas Rouart
Woman Playing the Guitar, ca. 1885 - 90

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Picture Book, ca. 1897

John Singer Sargent
Ramón Sabercaseaux in a Gondola, 1880

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Dancer Seated on a Pink Divan, 1884

Edgar Degas
Ballet Scene, 1880

Mary Cassatt
The Visitor, about 1880




Paul Gauguin
Bathing in Front of the Port of Pont-Aven, 1886

Chaim Soutine
Landscape at Cagnes, about 1922

Pierre Bonnard
Woman Picking Flowers, 1916

Camille Pissarro
The Jetty at Le Havre, High Tide, Morning Sun, 1903



A scintillating mix of artists and styles. Well worth the effort.

©Everythingelse238

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