Art Gallery of South Australia | Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay

COLOURS OF IMPRESSIONISM:
MASTERPIECES FROM THE MUSÉE D'ORSAY

ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA | ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
29 MARCH – 29 JULY 2018

Berthe Morisot (France, 1841-1895) L'hortensia (The hydrangea) 1894.
Oil on canvas, 73.1 x 60.4 cm. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France. © Photo Musée d'Orsay / rmn

French Impressionism and the triumph of colour: an exclusive for Australia Art Gallery of South Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia announces major international exhibition for March 2018

More than 65 Impressionist masterpieces from the renowned collection of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, will feature in a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia from 29 March to 29 July 2018.

Titled Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay, the exhibition charts the revolution of colour that lies at the very heart of Impressionism. This curatorial approach is unique in its exploration of colour as the guiding force behind the evolution of the nineteenth century’s most important art movement.

One of the exhibition’s highlights will be Monet’s celebrated work, La Pie (The Magpie). Painted by Monet in the open air, the snowscape features a novel palette of pale, lustrous colours, which caused the painting to be rejected by the Salon, the annual official art exhibition, in 1869. Monet’s masterpiece will hang alongside other celebrated masterworks by Renoir, Manet, Morisot, Pissarro and Cézanne, among many others.

From the dark tones of Manet's Spanish-influenced paintings, to the rich green and blue hues of the French countryside as painted by Cézanne, Monet and Pissarro, to the rosy pigments of Renoir’s andMorisot’s female figures, the exhibition traces the development of colour in the Impressionists' radical reshaping of painting in the nineteenth century.

Premier and ArtsMinister JayWeatherill says, ‘The works of artists such asMonet and Cézanne, for example, are so well regarded that this exhibition is bound to be very popular among Australians who would welcome the chance to see such an extensive display of Impressionist works in their own backyard. This exhibition is a real coup for our Gallery, and the Musée d’Orsay have been extremely generous in the selection of works of art they are sending to the southern hemisphere, with a number of them coming here for the very first time.’

Director Nick Mitzevich describes the exhibition as ‘the most important exhibition ever to be shown at the Art Gallery of South Australia. With so few Impressionist works held in Australian collections, the exhibition presents a rare opportunity for Australians to see themovement’s radical evolution of colour. Iwould like to thank theMusée d’Orsay for sharing this remarkable collection with Australia.’

In an unprecedented move, the Art Gallery of South Australia will be staging the exhibition in one of Australia’s few nineteenth century gallery spaces. A fitting backdrop for Colours of Impressionism, the ElderWing recalls the light-filled interior of the former metro station that now houses the Musée d’Orsay on Paris’Left Bank.

In partnership with Art Exhibitions Australia, this exhibition has been curated by Marine Kisiel and Paul Perrin of the Musée d’Orsay for the Art Gallery of South Australia. It will offer visitors the opportunity to experience iconic works by leading Impressionist painters from this peerless collection, as well as exploring one of the movement’s key innovations – the radical use and liberation of colour.

Colours of Impressionism:Masterpieces from theMusée d’Orsay will run from29March to 29 July 2018. For further information or to book your tickets visit artgallery.sa.gov.au. Further exhibition details will be released in early 2018.

Mme Laurence des Cars, Présidente des musées d'Orsay et de l’Orangerie says

The Musée d’Orsay is delighted to join in this first collaboration with the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide and Art Exhibitions Australia. After the exhibition The Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay, organised in 2004 in Melbourne, theMusée d'Orsay has continued to forge links with leading Australian cultural institutions. The exhibition Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay will present carefully selected paintings from the museum’s Impressionist collection, which is the best in the world in this domain.

Masterpieces like Manet’s Serveuse de bocks [TheWaitress], Cézanne’s Golfe de Marseille [Bay of Marseille], Caillebotte’s Vue des Toits [Rooftops], and Renoir’s Gabrielle à la rose [Gabrielle with a Rose] will be on display, along with an exceptional collection of ten paintings by Monet, including La Pie [The Magpie], Un Coin d'appartement [A Corner of the Apartment], Le Bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie rose [Water Lily Pond, Pink Harmony] and one of the Musée d’Orsay’s five versions of the Cathédrale de Rouen [Rouen Cathedral].

Minister for Tourism Leon Bignell says

The Colours of Impressionism exhibition gives tourists yet another reason to choose South Australia as a destination and is a great example of the diverse visitor experiences we have on offer – from premium food and wine to art and culture.

The State Government has invested an additional $70 million into the tourism sector and we have seen extraordinary growth in our visitor economy which has soared from $4.9 billion to $6.3 billion in the past four years.

The opening of the exhibition coincides with Mad March and I’m sure we’ll see many art lovers extending their stay to soak up this fantastic cultural experience while in Adelaide.

Art Gallery of South Australia Director, Nick Mitzevich continues

It is a privilege to be working with the esteemed Musée d’Orsay to bring these masterpieces of French Impressionism to Australia. We anticipate that an exhibition of this calibre and content will have broad appeal and that the focus on colour will provide a unique perspective on one of the most ground-breaking movements in Western art.

Colours of Impressionism will be the first major museum exhibition in South Australia to focus on Impressionist painting and it builds on the Art Gallery of South Australia’s aim to present major international exhibitions and significant works of art to Australian audiences.

I’d like to acknowledge the support of the State Government through Arts South Australia and the South Australian Tourism Commission.

LIST OF ARTISTS

Charles ANGRAND, France, 1854–1926
Eugène BOUDIN, France, 1824–1989
Gustave CAILLEBOTTE, France, 1848–1894
Paul CÉZANNE, France, 1839–1906
Camille COROT, France, 1796–1875
Gustave COURBET, France, 1819–1877
Henri-Edmond CROSS, France, 1856–1910
Charles-François DAUBIGNY, France, 1817–1878
Edgar DEGAS, France, 1834–1917
Eugène DELACROIX, France, 1798–1863
Paul GAUGUIN, France, 1848–1903
Antoine GUILLEMET, France, 1841–1918
Johan Barthold JONGKIND, The Netherlands/France, 1819–1891
Henri FANTIN-LATOUR, France, 1836–1904
Stanislas LÉPINE, France, 1835–1892
Maximilien LUCE, France, 1858–1941
Edouard MANET, France, 1832–1883
Claude MONET, France, 1840–1926
Berthe MORISOT, France, 1841–1895
Camille PISSARRO, France, 1830–1903
Lucien PISSARRO, France/Britain, 1863–1944
Auguste RENOIR, France, 1841–1919
Georges SEURAT, France, 1859–1891
Paul SIGNAC, France, 1863–1935
Alfred SISLEY, Britain/France, 1839–1899
Alfred STEVENS, Belgium/France, 1823–1906
James TISSOT, France, 1836–1902
Théo VAN RYSSELBERGHE, Belgium/France, 1862–1926

More images on Sales On Show

Exhibition website