Retrospective of French Impressionist Jean-Louis Forain at the Dixon Gallery Museum

Written by Imogen Botwright Friday, 17 June 2011 23:56

Memphis, TN.- The Dixon Gallery and Gardens is pleased to present a major retrospective of French Impressionist Jean-Louis Forain on June 26th. The Dixon in Memphis is the only American venue for the seminal retrospective of French painter and graphic artist Jean-Louis Forain, essential member of the Impressionist circle, protégé of Edgar Degas, and mentor to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The exhibition is the result of an unprecedented collaboration with the Petit Palais, the Museum of Fine Arts of the City of Paris, featuring more than 125 paintings, pastels, prints and decorative objects assembled from museum and private collections across the globe.

The retrospective traces the expanse of the artist’s fifty-year career, starting with his role as the youngest and most incisive of the Impressionists and closing with the expressive force of his later years. "Jean-Louis Forain: La Comédie Parisienne" will be on view at the gallery from June 26th through October 9th.

The exhibition represents an extraordinary educational and cultural opportunity for visitors considering its unique circumstances: the Dixon is the only venue in the United States and the last Forain retrospective of this scale took place nearly a century ago, in 1913. The Dixon is uniquely positioned to host the Forain retrospective after acquiring approximately 60 works by the artist in 1993. Jean-Louis Forain (1852-1931) emerged from the Parisian literary demimonde of the 1870s to become one of France’s best known and most revered artists. At the invitation of Edgar Degas, he joined the Impressionist circle in 1879 and participated in four of its landmark exhibitions. Through half-century of paintings, pastels, drawings and political cartoons, Jean-Louis Forain explored the glittering entertainments of Belle Époque Paris and satirized the Parisian bourgeoisie with an honesty and panache unlike any other artist working at the time. The Dixon will open a garden café, Café Forain, serving sandwiches, salads, snacks and beverages by Just for Lunch throughout the run of the exhibition. Open during regular museum hours including Thursday evenings until 9 pm. The Dixon will extend evening hours every Thursday evening and host performances, films, and other activities.

Founded in 1976 by Hugo and Margaret Dixon, the Dixon Gallery and Gardens is a fine art museum and public garden distinguished by its diverse and innovative programs in the arts and horticulture. The Dixon features a permanent collection of over 2,000 objects, including French and American Impressionist paintings and significant holdings of German and English porcelain. The museum organizes and presents eight to ten exhibitions every year, the diversity of which appeals to visitors of all ages. The Dixon’s 17 acre campus is highly regarded public garden that includes formal spaces, woodland tracts, and cutting gardens. The Dixon is accredited by the American Association Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association and Botanical Gardens Conservation International.

The permanent collection started as Hugo and Margaret Dixon's collection of twenty six paintings. This initial Dixon bequest included works by French Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, an American Impressionist, as well as 18th and 19th century British portraits and landscapes. Over the years, and through generous gifts, bequests, and museum purchases, the Dixon’s collection has grown to over 2000 paintings, works on paper, sculptures, and decorative arts objects. With the addition of the Warda Stevens Stout Collection of eighteenth-century German Porcelain, the Adler Pewter Collection, the Armand Hammer Collection of Daumier Prints, the Noufflard Collection, the Forain Acquisition, the Ritchie Collection, and the Millennium Gift of Sara Lee Corporation, the Dixon's permanent collection has expanded to include American art and a world-class collection of decorative art.

The Dixon's seventeen acres of formal and informal gardens are a certified arboretum and offer visitors a rich living collection of plants and horticulture. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.dixon.org

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