The Impressionists carry out this revolution by focusing on everyday life – the family circle, recreational activities, as well on work, emerging industries and social transformations. For its fourth edition, Normandy Impressionist seeks to revisit this movement, and to show that it was not confined to the idyllic representation of landscape, but that it was a wholehearted “witness to its time” and inseparable from the societal disruptions of the era.
Fascinated by the Industrial Revolution, the artists bear witness to their daily life and tackle themes such as the urban changes brought about by street lighting and the transformation of labor – themes that are the respective focus of “Les nuits électriques” [‘Electric Nights’] at the MuMa in Le Havre. Meanwhile, the Musée desBeaux-Arts de Rouen [Rouen Museum of Fine Arts] will present the exceptional collection of a great industrial figure of the time, the coal tycoon Francois Depeaux (1853-1920), a passionate collector of Impressionists, whom he supported extensively.
MAJOR EXHIBITIONS
Giverny | Musée des impressionnismes | March 27 – July 14, 2020
The Outdoors : From Corot to Monet
The practice of outdoor painting emerged in the mid-19th century with the School of Fontainebleau; it is the culmination of a long process in which the landscape asserts itself as a full-fledged genre.In France, as early as in the 18th century, artists focus on observing and objectively capturing the effects of light. From 1708, in his essay ‘Du paysage’, Roger de Piles advises painters to work outdoors.
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Rouen | Musée des Beaux-Arts/Museum of Fine Arts | April 3 – September 7, 2020
François Depeaux, the Man with 600 Paintings
A visionary collector, François Depeaux brought together one of the largest Impressionist collections of all times. A coal magnate, this industrialist from Rouen owned as many as 55 Sisley paintings, as well as Renoir,Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissarro, Monet… A friend of artists, he accompanied them in their daily lives, witnessing the birth of some of their greatest masterpieces - such as the renowned Cathedral series, where Claude Monet depicts every daylight color. This unprecedented exhibition uses a narrative mode to bring back to life
the artistic, economic and human adventure of this industry tycoon, a bold and wise philanthropist, who in 1909 endowed his city with the first Impressionist collection in the provinces. Exceptional loans from major museums and private collectors allow the return, for one summer season, of this vast collection now scattered all over the world.
Le Havre, Normandy | MuMa, Musée d’art moderne André Malraux | April 3 – September 20, 2020
Electric Nights
In cities of the second half of the 19th century and of the early 20th century, the transformation of the night and its incandescent atmosphere represent a revolution, which artists interested in light cannot be indifferent to. After natural light, it’s time for them to explore artificial light. “Nuits électriques” [‘Electric Nights’] exhibition aims to explore through more than 180 works (paintings, drawings, prints,photographs, films) by nearly 50 artists, including Edvard Munch, JosefPankiewicz, Eugen Jansson, Camille Pissarro, Toulouse Lautrec, Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, Kees Van Dongen, Sonia Delaunay…
Caen, Normandy | Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen | April 4 – September 20, 2020
The Fiery Cities. Art, Work, Revolt, 1870 – 1914
The topic of work is rarely associated with Impressionist and post-Impressionist painters. Did they not propose anything but ornamental artworks at a time when others highlighted a social reality? The Musée des Beaux-Arts’ ambition is to take a broader look at the works created between 1870 and 1914. Les villes ardentes [‘The Fiery Cities’] presents 100 works that shed light on these years from the aftermath of La Commune to the dawn of World War I, which mark the emergence of an industrialized France.
Cherbourg | Musée Thomas Henry | June 5 – September 6, 2019
Travels in Unchartered Territory: Boudin, Renoir, Signac…in Cotentin
Far from the French capital and difficult to access, the Cotentin peninsula has stood apart from Normandy’s major artistic routes. Cherbourg, a booming industrial city in the 19th century, hosts an unprecedented influx of workers. Like most other cities in Normandy, it follows the sea bathing trend in 1828 and builds a casino in 1864. The rail network that connects Cherbourg to Paris is inaugurated in 1858. Despite this infrastructure, the region is still rarely visited. Yet a handful of so-called avant-garde artists prop up their easels in the region, including Berthe Morisot, Auguste Renoir, Eugène Boudin, Paul Signac, Albert Marquet, and Henri Matisse. Museum Thomas Henry.
Dieppe, Normandy | Musée de Dieppe | June 20 – September 27, 2020
Eva Gonzales – Encounters with a Modern Woman
The Musée de Dieppe presents the first retrospective exhibition dedicated to the work of Eva Gonzalès (1850-1883), one of the rare female Impressionist painters to achieve renown.The exhibition is organized around four axes: the artist, her life, her portraits and her education; her role as Édouard Manet’s model; the “modernity” of her marriage with Henri Guérard, who will go on to support her in her career; her relationship with her sister, Jeanne Gonzalès, herself a model and artist.
For more exhibitions, festivities, parties and concerts see press kit below
