Monet and the Impressionist City
The Alte Nationalgalerie presents Claude Monet's three earliest views of Paris from 1867. These are considered the first Impressionist city views and inspired artists such as Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894) and Camille Pissarro (1830–1903) to create their own images of the modern city under reconstruction at.
Monet's series of paintings, created in 1867, takes a new artistic look at the modern city. The artist did not visit the famous Louvre as usual to copy the works of old masters, but rather painted the vibrant Parisian life from the balcony. In doing so, Monet literally turned his back on the art historical tradition and focused on the present of the growing metropolis.
Three remarkable city views were created, showing the view of “Saint Germain l'Auxerrois”, the “Jardin de l'Infante” and the “Quai du Louvre”. Today the works are in the collection of the National Gallery, in the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College (Ohio, USA) and in the Art Museum of The Hague. A cooperation between the three houses enables the reunification of the important paintings.
Based on these three works, the exhibition traces the rediscovery of the city as a motif by the artists of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism following Monet (1840–1926) up to Maximilien Luce (1858–1941) and Henri Matisse (1869–1954). . The concentrated exhibition on the impressionist cityscape includes around 20 precisely selected works of painting, photography and graphics.
The exhibition is curated by Ralph Gleis, supported by Josephine Hein as curatorial assistant.
An extensively illustrated catalog will be published to accompany the exhibition.
An exhibition by the Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin in cooperation with the Kunstmuseum Den Haag and the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, USA, made possible by the FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie and supported by the Berliner Volksbank. The catalog is published with the kind support of the Leinemann Art Foundation Nikolassee.
Photo credit: Claude Monet, Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, 1867, oil on canvas; © Nationalgalerie, Berlin State Museums / Jörg P. Anders