Degas, an Impressionist Painter?

Press Release / March 2015
Degas, an Impressionist
Painter?
From March 27 th to July 19 th, 2015
This exhibition received
exceptional loans from the musée d’Orsay
www.mdig.fr
Press Release / March 2015
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Summary
2 Presentation of the exhibition Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
4
Overview of the exhibition
8 Chronological table
10 List of lenders
12 The catalogue of exhibition
16 Press images
20 Permanent exhibit
22 Upcoming exhibition
24 Useful information
Rochers au bord d’une rivière, v. 1890
-
Pastel sur monotype couleurs à l’huile, 39,8 × 29,8 cm
Collection particulière
© Tous droits réservés
musée des impressionnismes giverny
/3
Presentation
présentation
de
of the
exhibition
l’exposition
Le Champ de courses,
jockeys amateurs près d’une voiture,
entre 1876 et 1887
(détail)
Huile sur toile, 65,2 × 81,2 cm,
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 1980
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
Press Release / March 2015
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Degas,
an Impressionist Painter?
Within the mission of its exhibition policy, which is to explore
the different aesthetic forms of impressionism, the musée
des impressionnismes Giverny in partnership with the musée
d’Orsay will present an exhibition titled “Degas, an
Impressionist Painter?”
Whereas Edgar Degas is today considered one of the great
impressionist artists – he was a diligent participant at the
“impressionist exhibitions”, being represented at seven of them
– he had a complex relationship with his colleagues and plein air
painting, which was a distinctive feature of the impressionist
period in the career of many artists.
The exhibition will number approximately eighty works,
featuring paintings, sculptures, pastels, monotypes and
drawings. As part of the collaborative relationship between the
musée des impressionnismes Giverny and the musée d’Orsay,
the latter will contribute important works to the exhibition.
Several museums in America and Europe and a number of
important private collectors are also participating. The scientific
committee will be formed by Marina Ferretti, Director of
Exhibitions and Research at the musée des impressionnismes
Giverny, and Xavier Rey, Director of Collections and Curator
at the musée d’Orsay.
At the end of his life, Degas was keen to point out the distance
between his art and that of the impressionists: “If I were the
government, I would have a special brigade of gendarmes to
keep an eye on the people who paint landscapes from nature…”
he is supposed to have confided to Ambroise Vollard. He also
had harsh words for Claude Monet, who nonetheless admired
the work of his elder colleague very much. For example,
standing in front of Monet’s Lilies, he remarked dryly that
he did “not feel the need to lose consciousness before a pond”,
and told the painter to his face, “I only stayed a moment
at your exhibition. Your paintings made me dizzy”.
Henceforth, though Degas remained active in the impressionist
revolution of the manner in which an artist looked upon his
motif, he differentiated himself from his colleagues, introducing
in particular a novel attention to scenes lit artificially,
and concentrating on more personal motifs, such as bodily
movement, which he studied through dance.
Le Champ de courses,
jockeys amateurs près d’une voiture,
entre 1876 et 1887
-
This exhibition received
exceptional loans from the musée d’Orsay
Huile sur toile, 65,2 × 81,2 cm,
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 1980
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Press Release / March 2015
Overview
The exhibition
of the
will be divided
exhibition
in five main sections
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
1. A classical background
Danseuses (Danseuses au repos), v. 1898
(détail)
-
Pastel sur cinq feuilles de papier contrecollées sur carton,
83 × 72 cm, Lausanne, fondation de l’Hermitage,
legs de Lucie Schmidheiny, 1998
© Lausanne, fondation de l’Hermitage /
Photo : Giorgio Skory, Romanel-sur-Lausanne
A pupil of Barrias and Lamothe, a follower of Hippolyte
Flandrin and a great admirer of Ingres, Degas briefly studied
at the École des beaux-arts before spending three years in Italy
where he had family. An outstanding draughtsman, he was often
inspired by Antiquity, the Renaissance and the artists of
Bologna. He remained faithful to the traditional procedures
of executing a painting: studies of live models, preparatory
drawings regarding both composition and details, the use of
a grid, etc. Thus, more than most of the other impressionists,
he was steeped in a classical culture that he would never forsake.
2. Impressionism
in portraiture and scenes
of modern life
With the exception of the 1882 exhibition, Degas took part in
all the impressionist exhibitions from 1874 to 1886. Fearing
that they might appear like exhibitions by artists refused by
the official Salons, and wishing to give them more credibility, he
asked some of his friends whose talent was already recognised,
such as the Italian painter Giuseppe De Nittis, to participate.
He also introduced the American painter Mary Cassatt into the
group. The invasive presence of Degas’s friends (not all of whom
had the same talent as either De Nittis or Cassatt) ended by
discouraging Monet and Renoir and diluting the quality of the
impressionist exhibitions. Furthermore, Degas’s influence on
these exhibitions tended to shift the focus away from what was
construed as the particular nature of impressionism and in the
direction of the more general movement of Naturalism, founded
on portraiture and genre scenes, which were already beginning
to be celebrated in the official Salons of the Third Republic.
Danseuses (Danseuses au repos), v. 1898
-
Pastel sur cinq feuilles de papier contrecollées sur carton,
83 × 72 cm, Lausanne, fondation de l’Hermitage,
legs de Lucie Schmidheiny, 1998
© Lausanne, fondation de l’Hermitage /
Photo : Giorgio Skory, Romanel-sur-Lausanne
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Organization of the exhibition
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
3. The question of landscape
5. Degas after 1892
“You need the natural life, I the artificial”, Degas is said to
have stated to his impressionist colleagues, and it is true that,
in his work, he broadly focused on the world of dance,
interiors and, more generally, scenes of modern life. However,
Degas also left a number of landscapes, in particular a
remarkable series of pastels drawn from memory, which he
recreated in his studio in 1869 with the help of notes he had
made in a sketchbook. In 1890, he returned to the theme of the
landscape, as is seen in a series of monotypes highlighted with
pastels, almost abstract memories of fleeting visions that he
presented at the galerie Durand-Ruel in 1892. But, once again,
he seemed to take the opposite approach to his fellowimpressionists by emphasising the mystery of the scenes,
as seen in the works of the Symbolists.
Degas ended his days withdrawn from the social aspects
of the life of an artist and refused to exhibit after 1892. As from
the 1880s, the paths of the impressionist painters had diverged
and each was working individually, while also digressing from
the impressionism of the years 1870–80. During this period,
Degas was producing pastel drawings of dancers and nudes
from memory, which he described as “orgies of colour”.
Very quickly, at the exhibition of his studio works prior to
their auction following his death, this approach was to usher
in highly modern and avant-garde forms, which would in turn
be sources of inspiration for the young artists at the start
of the twentieth century, the Fauves and future Cubists.
4. The body in movement
The theme of movement, and those particularly of ballet
and dance, fascinated Degas. During the Second Empire and
the Third Republic, the Opéra and ballet were very fashionable
and characteristic aspects of an evening social life which,
thanks to the installation of public electric lighting, was taken
up by increasing numbers. Fascinated by the effects of artificial
lighting on the legs of ballerinas, Degas captured the poses,
movements and outfits of the young dancers. He also closely
studied the work of the girls as they exercised at the bar during
their lessons.
The balance of colours in Degas’s works was often decided
by the colour of a legging or tutu. For Degas the young dancers,
like horses, provided him the opportunity to put scientific
discoveries at the service of his art and to give an answer
to the challenge offered by the precision of photography,
which he had made use of himself. The decomposition of
movement rendered by chronophotography encouraged him
to tackle highly daring forms in his drawing.
Ballet, dit aussi L’Étoile, v. 1876
-
Pastel sur monotype, 58,4 × 42 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 12258
© Paris, musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais /
Photo : Patrice Schmidt
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Press Release / March 2015
Edgar Degas
Chronological
(1834-1917)
table
19 July 1834
Birth of Hilaire Germain-Edgar
De Gas in Paris. Son of Laurent
Pierre Augustin Hyacinthe
De Gas, banker, and Marie
Célestine Musson. He is given
a bourgeois education.
Portrait de l’artiste dit Degas au chapeau mou,
v. 1857-1858
(détail)
-
Huile sur papier appliqué sur toile, 26 × 19,1 cm
Williamstown, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,
1955.544
© 2008 The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,
Williamstown
1855
Visits Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres in his studio in the
company of collector Édouard
Valpinçon.
April: he is admitted to the
École des beaux-arts as a pupil
of the painter Louis Lamothe.
1865
May: first participation
at the Salon with Scènes
de guerre au Moyen-Âge
(Paris, musée d’Orsay).
1868
Spring: frequents the café
Guerbois.
1869
July-August: stays on the
Normandy coast at Étretat,
Villers-sur-Mer and Boulognesur-Mer, where he produces
a series of pastel landscapes.
1856-1859
Lives in Italy (Naples, Rome,
Florence) where he copies works
by Renaissance masters.
Gets to know Gustave Moreau.
1870
May: last participation at the
Salon, where he presents
Madame Théodore Gobillard,
(Yves Morisot, 1838-1893)
1860
Second stay in Italy (Naples,
Florence).
October 1872
– March 1873
Stays with his family in New
Orleans.
1873
February: produces two versions
of the same subject: Portraits dans
un bureau (Nouvelle-Orléans).
1874
First exhibition of the impressionist
group. Degas will take part in
seven of the eight impressionist
group exhibitions, missing only
the one in 1872, and will be
active in their organization.
1878
March: the musée des Beaux-Arts
de Pau purchases Portraits dans
un bureau (Nouvelle-Orléans).
1881
He presents the sculpture
of the Petite Danseuse
de quatorze ans at the fifth
impressionist group exhibition.
1886
May: at this, his last impressionist
exhibition, he presents a series of
female nudes “bathing, washing,
drying, wiping themselves or
brushing their hair”.
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
1890
September: trip in Burgundy
with the sculptor Bartholomé.
He executes his first landscapes
using the monotype technique.
1892
November: exhibition of
landscapes, monotypes and
pastels at the galerie Durand-Ruel
in Paris.
1896
As a result of the Caillebotte
bequest, seven works by Degas
enter the musée du Luxembourg.
1897
August: with his friend
Bartholomé he visits the Ingres
museum in Montauban.
27 septembre 1917
Dies in Paris aged 83.
1888
Summer: he produces sculptures
of horses.
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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List
of lenders
Press Release / March 2015
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks
to all the collectors whose generous loans have made
this exhibition possible:
Anisabelle Berès-Montanari Collection
André Bromberg Collection
E.W.K. Collection
James T. Dyke Collection
United-States
United Kingdom
Private collection, courtesy Acquavella Galleries, New York
Columbus, Columbus Museum of Art
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art
Washington, National Gallery of Art
Williamstown, Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute
Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery
France
Henri Rouart devant son usine, v. 1875
(détail)
-
Huile sur toile, 65,4 × 50,5 cm
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, acquis grâce
à la générosité de la famille Sarah Mellon Scaife, 69.44
© Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Avignon, musée Angladon
Le Havre, MuMa musée d’art moderne André Malraux
Paris, galerie Berès
Paris, lycée Claude-Monet
Paris, musée d’Orsay
Paris, musée d’Orsay, on deposit at the musée
des Beaux-Arts de Nancy
Paris, musée Marmottan Monet
Paris, Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris
Pau, musée des Beaux-Arts
Rouen, musée des Beaux-Arts
Switzerland
Lausanne, Fondation de l’Hermitage
Without forgetting the many private lenders
who wish to remain anonymous.
Henri Rouart devant son usine, v. 1875
-
Huile sur toile, 65,4 × 50,5 cm
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, acquis grâce
à la générosité de la famille Sarah Mellon Scaife, 69.44
© Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Press Release / March 2015
The catalogue
Degas,
an Impressionist Painter?
of exhibition
An important catalogue in French will be published as
part of this exhibition, with contributions by internationally
renowned experts on the art of Degas. All the works exhibited
will be illustrated with full-page reproductions.
This publication, co-published with Éditions Gallimard,
will be distributed throughout France and abroad.
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Catalogue contents:
• Forewords by Jean Louis Destans, President of the musée
des impressionnismes Giverny, by Frédéric Frank, Director
of the musée des impressionnismes Giverny, and by
Marina Ferretti, Co-curator of the exhibition and Director of
Exhibitions and Research at the musée des impressionnismes Giverny.
Femme vue de dos (La Visite au musée),
v. 1877-1880
(détail)
Huile sur toile, 81,3 × 75,6 cm
Washington, National Gallery of Art,
collection de M. et Mme Mellon, 1985.64.11
© Washington, National Gallery of Art
• Introduction by Guy Cogeval, President of the musées
d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie and Vice-president of the musée
des impressionnismes Giverny
• Preface by Henri Loyrette
• Essay by Xavier Rey, Co-curator of the exhibition and
Director of Collections and Curator at the musée d’Orsay,
“Degas and impressionism: a temperament impervious
to a movement”
• Essay by Ann Dumas, Curator at the Royal Academy
of Arts in London, “Degas: the question of landscape”
cover of the catalogue
-
Version : French
Coedition : musée des impressionnismes Giverny
and Éditions Gallimard
Publication : March 2015
Size : 24 × 29 cm
160 pages
Price : 29 euros
• Essay by Paul Perrin, Curator at the musée d’Orsay,
“There are marvellous coexistences [...] Degas and Renoir”
• Essay by Anne Roquebert, Curator at the musée d’Orsay,
“Degas versus Monet”
• Catalogue of the works exhibited (80 full colour pages
with an introduction to each section)
• Chronology by Vanessa Lecomte, Associate Curator at the
musée des impressionnismes Giverny
• Selective bibliography
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Exhibition catalogue
Marina Ferretti
Marina Ferretti is Director of Exhibitions and Research
at the musée des impressionnismes Giverny. She has
organized many important exhibitions, such as “Signac” (Paris,
Grand Palais, Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum and New York,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001), “Le Néoimpressionnisme.
De Seurat à Paul Klee” (Paris, musée d’Orsay, 2005), “Le Jardin
de Monet à Giverny” (Giverny, musée des impressionnismes,
2009), and “Signac, les couleurs de l’eau” (Giverny, musée
des impressionnismes and Montpellier, musée Fabre, 2013).
She has written several essays and books on impressionism,
including L’Impressionnisme (in the collection “Que sais-je ?”,
Paris, PUF, 2004).
Xavier Rey
Xavier Rey studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris
and graduated from HEC. He was appointed Curator at
the musée d’Orsay in 2010. Responsible for the exhibition
of the permanent painting collections, he was made Director
of Collections in 2013 following various phases of the
renovation works carried out in the museum since 2011.
A specialist in painting, with George Shackelford he was
co-curator of “Degas and the Nude” (Boston, Museum
of Fine Arts, and Paris, musée d’Orsay, 2011-2012), then of a
retrospective of Degas in the collections of the musée d’Orsay
in Turin. “Degas, un peintre impressionniste ?” is related
to his research on the historiography of impressionism
and its presentation in the public collections.
Ann Dumas
Ann Dumas is Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts in
London. She has been responsible for the organization of
many exhibitions on the art of the 19th and 20th centuries, in
particular “The Private Collection of Edgar Degas” (New York,
Metropolitan Museum of Art), “From Cézanne to Picasso:
masterpieces from the galerie Vollard” (New York,
Metropolitan Museum of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Paris,
musée d’Orsay, 2006-2007), “Degas: The Late Landscapes”
(Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek; Columbus Museum
of Art, 2006-2007), “The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His
Letters” (London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2010), and was
co-curator of “Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement”
(London, Royal Academy of Arts, 2011).
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Anne Roquebert
Anne Roquebert is Curator and Chargée de mission at
the musée d’Orsay. She has been involved in the organization
of many exhibitions, most importantly: “Toulouse-Lautrec”
(London and Paris, 1991-1992), “From Cézanne to Picasso:
masterpieces from the galerie Vollard” (New York, Chicago
and Paris, 2006-2007), “Claude Monet” (Paris, 2010-2011).
Anne Roquebert has also published articles and books,
in particular on Degas (Cercle d’art, 1988; Phenice, 1993)
and Toulouse-Lautrec (Hachette-RMN, 1992; Cercle d’art,
1995). She has also contributed to catalogues on the French
national collections: Catalogue sommaire illustré du musée
du Louvre et du musée d’Orsay, École française (Paris,
RMN, 1986); that of the musée d’Orsay in 1990; Catalogue
des MNR (Paris, RMN, 2004).
Vanessa Lecomte
Vanessa Lecomte is Associate Curator at the musée des
impressionnismes Giverny where she was co-curator of the
exhibitions “Maurice Denis, L’Éternel Printemps” and “Monet
intime. Photographies de Bernard Plossu” in 2012. En 2008,
she organized the exhibition “Portrait of a Lady” (musée d’Art
Américain Giverny; Bordeaux, musée des Beaux-Arts,
2008-2009). She has written contributions to several
exhibitions at the musée des impressionnismes Giverny,
among which “Le Jardin de Monet à Giverny: l’invention
d’un paysage” (2009), “Joan Mitchell, peintures” (2009),
“L’Impressionnisme au fil de la Seine” (2010), “Maximilien
Luce, néo-impressionniste. Rétrospective” (2010), “Bonnard
en Normandie” (2011), and “Hiramatsu Reiji, le bassin aux
nymphéas. Hommage à Monet” (2013).
Paul Perrin
Paul Perrin is Painting Curator at the musée d’Orsay.
He is in charge of the organization of several forthcoming
exhibitions, among which “Frédéric Bazille, la jeunesse de
l’impressionnisme” (Montpellier, musée Fabre; Paris, musée
d’Orsay; and Washington, National Gallery of Art, 2016-2017)
and an exhibition on the Second Empire (2016). He has written
various articles and essays on Renoir and impressionism, and
contributed to the realization of the catalogue of the exhibition
“Sur la route d’Italie, peindre la nature d’Hubert Robert à
Corot” (Évreux, musée d’Art, Histoire et Archéologie; Amiens,
musée de Picardie, 2014-2015).
Danseuse, grande arabesque,
troisième temps, fonte exécutée entre 1921 et 1931
par Adrien Aurélien Hébrard d’après un original en cire
réalisé vers 1882-1895
(détail)
Statuette en bronze patiné, 40,5 × 56,2 × 31 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 2071
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Press
images
Press Release / March 2015
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
These images are
only available to illustrate
articles about the exhibition
and for its duration.
All other rights reserved.
Maisons au bord de la mer, v. 1869
(détail)
-
Pastel sur papier chamois, 31,4 × 46,5 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 31201
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Press images
/ 19
Sémiramis construisant Babylone, 1861
Huile sur toile, 151 × 258 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 2207
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
Press Release / March 2015
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Maisons au bord de la mer, v. 1869
-
Pastel sur papier chamois, 31,4 × 46,5 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 31201
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
Portraits dans un bureau (Nouvelle-Orléans), 1873
Rochers au bord d’une rivière, v. 1890
-
Portrait de l’artiste dit Degas au chapeau mou,
v. 1857-1858
-
Pastel sur monotype couleurs à l’huile, 39,8 × 29,8 cm
Collection particulière
© Tous droits réservés
Huile sur papier appliqué sur toile, 26 × 19,1 cm
Williamstown, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,
1955.544
© 2008 The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,
Williamstown
Huile sur toile, 73 × 92 cm
Pau, musée des Beaux-Arts, 878.1.2
© RMN-Grand Palais / Photos : Michèle Bellot
et Madeleine Coursaget
Le Champ de courses,
jockeys amateurs près d’une voiture,
entre 1876 et 1887
Huile sur toile, 65,2 × 81,2 cm,
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 1980
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
Danseuse, grande arabesque,
troisième temps, fonte exécutée entre 1921 et 1931
par Adrien Aurélien Hébrard d’après un original en cire
réalisé vers 1882-1895
Statuette en bronze patiné, 40,5 × 56,2 × 31 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 2071
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
Femme vue de dos (La Visite au musée),
v. 1877-1880
Huile sur toile, 81,3 × 75,6 cm
Washington, National Gallery of Art,
collection de M. et Mme Mellon, 1985.64.11
© Washington, National Gallery of Art
Ballet, dit aussi L’Étoile, v. 1876
-
Pastel sur monotype, 58,4 × 42 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 12258
© Paris, musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais /
Photo : Patrice Schmidt
Danseuses (Danseuses au repos), v. 1898
-
Pastel sur cinq feuilles de papier contrecollées sur carton,
83 × 72 cm, Lausanne, fondation de l’Hermitage,
legs de Lucie Schmidheiny, 1998
© Lausanne, fondation de l’Hermitage /
Photo : Giorgio Skory, Romanel-sur-Lausanne
Henri Rouart devant son usine, v. 1875
-
Huile sur toile, 65,4 × 50,5 cm
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, acquis grâce
à la générosité de la famille Sarah Mellon Scaife, 69.44
© Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art
musée des impressionnismes giverny
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Press Release / March 2015
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Permanent
Claude Monet in the middle
exhibit
from March 27 th to November 1 st, 2015
In its mounting of thematic or monographic exhibitions,
the aim of the musée des impressionnismes is to illustrate a
precise moment in the history of impressionism or Postimpressionism and to explicate its developments in France and
elsewhere in the world. These artistic movements, which
developed during one of the richest periods in the history of
French art, remain a source of inspiration for many artists today.
Theodore Wendel
Brook, Giverny (detail), 1885
-
Oil on canvas, 72,4 x 90,5 cm
Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago,
Daniel J. Terra Collection, 1987.13
© Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago
Maurice Denis
Soleil blanc sur les blés, vers 1914
-
Huile sur toile, 29 × 34 cm
Giverny, musée des impressionnismes, don de Claire Denis,
2012, MDIG D 2012.6
© Giverny, musée des impressionnismes /
Photo : Thierry Leroy
Thanks to the loans made by our partners, the musée d’Orsay
and Terra Foundation for American Art, we are today able to
present, in parallel to our exhibitions, a comprehensive display
of works centring on the figure of Claude Monet. Without the
extraordinarily innovative research of the patriarch of Giverny,
the art of Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard and Maximilien Luce
would be no more understandable than the works by the
American artists in the Giverny colony or the Neoimpressionist painters. The paths for possible exploration
are innumerable and open the way to a fascinating programme
of exhibitions in the future. Even today, the pond and house
at Giverny remain mythical places for many artists.
The works presented change each year in accordance with
loans received but the theme remains unaltered. Thus, in
addition to our temporary exhibitions, each season visitors have
the opportunity to admire works on the theme of Monet and
his influence.
In 2015, within the framework of its policy “Le Temps des
Collections”, the musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen will share
the exhibition programme at the musée des impressionnismes
Giverny, and the musée Marmottan Monet as well.
Joan Mitchell
La Grande Vallée IX, 1983-1984
-
Huile sur toile, 260 × 260 cm
Collection FRAC Haute-Normandie, inv. P 84 09 19,
en dépôt au musée des impressionnismes Giverny,
MDIG D 2009.2
© Collection Frac Haute-Normandie /
Photo : Jacqueline Hyde
© Estate of Joan Mitchell
musée des impressionnismes giverny
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Press Release / March 2015
Degas, an Impressionist Painter?
Upcoming
Photographing Monet’s Garden:
exhibition
Five Contemporary Views
From July 31 to November 1 st, 2015
Darren Almond
Fullmoon Impression,
2011
-
Stephen Shore
Giverny France, 1982
(détail)
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Chromogenic color print, 91,4 × 114,3 cm
Courtesy of the artist
and 303 Gallery, New York,
SS 1546.1
© Stephen Shore, courtesy
303 Gallery, New York
C-print, 121 × 121 cm
Darren Almond Courtesy
Galerie Max Hetzler,
Berlin / Matthew Marks
Gallery, New York /
Jay Jopling, White Cube,
London
© Darren Almond
© Adagp, Paris, 2015
Henri Foucault
Serie Vibrations - Giverny,
7 November 2012
Photogram, 49,5 x 38,5 cm
Collection of the artist
© Henri Foucault
© Adagp, Paris, 2015
Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny is probably one of the
most photographed subjects in the world. This exhibition
offers a completely original look at this famous place through
the works of five internationally renowned contemporary
photographers.
The works of Stephen Shore record the restoration of Monet’s
garden between 1977 and 1982. More recently the artists
Darren Almond, Elger Esser, Henri Foucault and Bernard
Plossu each investigated the garden, its magic and endlessly
renewed ephemeral beauties in depth. A source of inspiration,
with them the gardens becomes a place of experimentation
that intensifies our individual perception of time.
The exhibition will draw on approximately 90 photographs
of small, medium and large formats.
Bernard Plossu
Garden of Claude Monet,
Giverny, June 2011
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Tirage fresson, 30 × 44,8 cm
Collection of the artist
on long term loan at the
musée des impressionnismes
Giverny, MDIG D 2015.1.5
© Bernard Plossu
Stephen Shore
Giverny, France, 1982
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Chromogenic color print,
91,4 × 114,3 cm
Courtesy of the artist
and 303 Gallery, New York,
SS 1546.1
© Stephen Shore, courtesy
303 Gallery, New York
Elger Esser
Combray (Giverny II),
France (HauteNormandie, 27 Eure),
2010
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Heliogravure, 117 x 133 x 6 cm
Private collection
© Elger Esser 2010
© Adagp, Paris, 2015
musée des impressionnismes giverny
Useful information
Admission fee
Musée des impressionnismes Giverny
99 rue Claude Monet | 27 620 Giverny
T. 02 32 51 94 65 | contact@mdig.fr |
www.mdig.fr
Ticket for galleries
Adult: 7 €
Child 12 to 18 / Student: 4,50 €
Child 7 to 11: 3 €
Visitor with disabilities: 3 €
Child under 7: free
Open from March 27th
to November 1st, 2015
Every day from 10 am to 6 pm
Galleries will be closed to the public
from July 20th to 30th, 2015
(The Autour de Claude Monet
gallery will remain open).
Le musée est accessible aux personnes
à mobilité réduite.
On place: restaurant – tea-room,
gift shop-bookstore
Free on 1st Sunday of the month
Family ticket: Buy 3 tickets get one free
child admission
Annual Pass: 20 € | Duo Pass: 35 €
Audioguide : 3 €
Combined tickets *
Musée des impressionnismes
+ Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet
Adult: 16,50 €
Child 12 to 18 / Student: 10 €
Child 7 to 11: 8,50 €
Visitor with disabilities: 7 €
Child under 7: free
Musée des impressionnismes
+ Musée de Vernon
Adult: 9 €
Student over 26: 6,50 €
Child under 7: free
Available to individuals only,
no queuing required.
Online purchasing available:
www.mdig.fr
www.fnac.com
www.ticketmaster.fr
* additional charge for management costs
Sémiramis construisant Babylone, 1861
(détail)
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Huile sur toile, 151 × 258 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 2207
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay) /
Photo : Hervé Lewandowski
Musée
des impressionnismes Giverny
For further information
Please contact:
99 rue Claude Monet
BP 18
27620 Giverny
France
Anne Samson Communications
Léopoldine Turbat
T : 33 (0) 140 36 84 35
leopoldine@annesamson.com
T : 33 (0) 232 51 94 65
F : 33 (0) 232 51 94 67
contact@mdig.fr
www.facebook.com/mdig.fr
www.mdig.fr
This exhibition received
exceptional loans from
the musée d’Orsay
At museum
Head of communication
Géraldine Brilhault
T : 33 (0) 232 51 92 48
g.brilhault@mdig.fr
Open from March 27th
to November 1st, 2015
Every day from 10 am to 6 pm
last admission 5.30 pm
Galleries will be closed to the public
from July 20th to 30th, 2015
(The Autour de Claude Monet
gallery will remain open)
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Ballet, dit aussi L’Étoile,
v. 1876
(détail)
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Pastel sur monotype, 58,4 × 42 cm
Paris, musée d’Orsay, RF 12258
© Paris, musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais /
Photo : Patrice Schmidt
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