WINNIPEG.- The biggest names in Impressionist art have arrived at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cassatt, and many others are featured in Manitoba’s first major display of French Impressionist paintings, drawings, and sculptures. Two exhibitions opened June 16 and run until September 9, 2018.

The Impressionists and their followers sparked a revolution in European art in the late 19th century: they broke from convention by painting spontaneously out-of-doors and ‘on the spot’ to capture a sense of the moment. Once outsiders of the art world, today they are some of the most beloved artists of all time.

Organized by the Brooklyn Museum and their renowned collection of European art French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950 brings to Winnipeg paintings and sculptures produced by leadings artists of the avant-garde movements that defined modern art in the 19th and 20th centuries, including Impressionism and much more. The exhibition surveys the innovative styles and techniques bookending the Impressionists with works from the Realism movement and Barbizon school and concluding with the Expressionists and Surrealists movements.

The Impressionists on Paper is organized by the WAG with the generous collaboration of the National Gallery of Canada and charts three decades, beginning in the 1870s, the decade of the first Impressionist exhibitions in Paris. See landscapes, portraits, and contemporary scenes from the National Gallery of Canada’s eminent collection of Impressionist art.

While the collection features work by two of “Les Trois Grandes Dames” of Impressionism (Mary Cassatt and Berthe Morisot), the gender imbalance brought about a third exhibition. Defying Convention: Women Artists in Canada, 1900-1960 focuses on Canadian women artists working around the same time, and invites dialogue with the two European shows.

Manitoba asked for the Impressionists and we listened. We could not be more excited to work with the Brooklyn Museum and the National Gallery of Canada to bring work by these revolutionary artists to Manitoba for our first major display of French Impressionism. Summer with the Impressionists is a rare opportunity to experience some of the most exhilarating moments in the history of art, and from many perspectives. -Dr. Stephen Borys, Director & CEO, Winnipeg Art Gallery