'Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists' at the San Diego Museum of Art

Written by Robert Barrows Thursday, 24 February 2011 23:26

 

SAN DIEGO, CA — This summer, the San Diego Museum of Art will be the only North American venue for a remarkable exhibition of more than 100 Impressionist paintings drawn from both public and private collections. Running to September 30, 2007, Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885–1915 includes key examples by Claude Monet, Theodore Robinson, John Leslie Breck, and Frederick Carl Frieseke, as well as many other international artists. The exhibition, organized by the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, in Normandy, France, explores the phenomenon of this turn-of-the-century art colony over a 30-year period.

The years covered correspond to the time-frame when the village’s most famous inhabitant, Claude Monet, developed his elaborate gardens and his signature style of Impressionist art.

All of the works on display were produced in or near the rural village of Giverny, located less than an hour from Paris, on the fringe of the Ile de France and Normandy. Showcasing a wide array of Impressionist imagery, from familiar images of grain-stacks and lily ponds, to exclusive glimpses of domestic life in late-19^th-century France, Impressionist Giverny reveals the intense creative activity that was inspired by this unique environment.

“The public’s appetite for Impressionist work is well-known,” says SDMA’s executive director, Derrick R. Cartwright. “This project will reward visitors seeking the works of Claude Monet, but at the same time it offers something significantly more to San Diego audiences. In addition to Monet, this tiny village was home—for varying lengths of time—to numerous talented artists from around the world. British, Czech, German, Scandinavian, and especially North American, these painters will be shown alongside the works of their celebrated French counterparts, presenting a more complex view of the period’s practice, as well as insights into the various forms that Impressionist experiments took over time.”

The artists represented in the exhibition, including American artists Frederick Carl Frieseke, John Leslie Breck, Guy Rose, and Theodore Robinson, flocked to this picturesque site in search of camaraderie and an ideal setting for plein-air painting. The beautiful surroundings and friendships are evident in Impressionist Giverny, which features paintings from European and American collections, including roughly 30 works from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Divided into four sections, Impressionist Giverny traces the chronological, stylistic, and thematic evolution of the art produced in the village, as well as the artists’ personal relationships with Monet and his large family. Historic documents and photographs round out this in-depth investigation of one of the world’s most recognized and enduring artist colonies.

The San Diego Museum of Art’s presentation of Impressionist Giverny will be further enriched by an impressive group of paintings from SDMA’s permanent collection and select private collections in the region. Works by Claude Monet, Guy Rose, Lila Cabot Perry, Lawton Parker, and Joan Mitchell, among other artists, will be included in this section. “The opportunity to re-contextualize some local resources at the time of this display in our museum promises to be another unique appeal of the exhibition in San Diego,” says Cartwright.

The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated scholarly catalogue, edited by Katie Bourguignon, jointly published by the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny and the University of Chicago Press. Impressionist Giverny: A Colony of Artists, 1885-1915 is organized by the Musée d’Art Américain Giverny, Terra Foundation for American Art.

The historic San Diego Museum of Art provides a rich and diverse cultural experience for more than 400,000 annual visitors. Located in the heart of beautiful Balboa Park, the Museum’s nationally renowned collections include Spanish and Italian old masters, a vast Asian collection, 19^th- and 20^th-century American paintings and sculptures, and an international selection of contemporary art in all media. In addition, the Museum regularly features major exhibitions of art from around the world with exhibition texts in English and Spanish, as well as an extensive year-round schedule of supporting cultural and educational programs. Visit Web site: www.sdmart.org

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