The Joslyn Art Museum presents Renoir to Chagall: Paris and the Allure of Color, an exhibition on view June 8 through September 1, showcasing 49 masterpieces from the renowned collection of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee. The exhibition explores how Paris emerged as the center of the art world in the nineteenth century, attracting and inspiring the greatest painters of the era, including the well- known leaders of French Impressionism.
Under Emperor Napoleon III, Paris was transformed between 1853 and 1870, as crowded neighborhoods and narrow streets were demolished to make way for grand boulevards, public gardens, and striking new buildings. Energized by a growing population and rising prosperity, the renewed city also attracted the most important artists of the time, who came to define the modern era. In 1874, a group of young painters, including Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot, organized an exhibition independent of the official salon. Together, they became known by the critics as “Impressionists,” so named for work that appeared to capture not only its subject, but the artist’s sensation of it as well. Often painting en plein air, or out of doors, their style is characterized by quick, staccato brushwork and unblended paint mixed directly on the canvas itself, creating shape and volume through the contrast of colors. Their subjects ranged widely, from the seacoast and rural landscapes to grand vistas of the city to people engaged in contemporary pursuits, whether socializing in a café, attending the ballet, or leisurely strolling the Parisian streets.
The Impressionists, in turn, inspired further generations of avant-garde artists, including Neo-Impressionists like George Seurat; Henri Matisse and the Fauves’ bold use of color; George Braque’s experiments with Cubist structure; and Marc Chagall’s lyrical allegories. Through the eyes of these artists, viewers not only see the enchantment of the ”City of Light” and the French countryside, but also the inspiration and foundation of the most important artistic movements of the twentieth century. www.joslyn.org
