HOUSTON, TEXAS.- Representing Paris as both a center and icon of modernity in the late 19th century, an exhibition of 120 objects from the Musée d´Orsay´s vast collection will open at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on April 6, 2003. The exhibition features paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, architectural drawings, and photographs, including works by Camille Pissarro, Gustave Caillebotte, Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre Bonnard, and André Derain. The exhibition, a survey of works that will travel from the 18-year old Musée d´Orsay to the United States for the first time, explores Parisian life and culture in the second half of the 19th century, emphasizing the city´s transition during this time into a hub of modern ideas. Paris in the Age of Impressionism: Masterworks from the Musée d´Orsay will be on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston through June 29, 2003 in the Audrey Jones Beck Building, 5601 Main Street.
"This exhibition is intended to show not only why Paris was the cultural capital of Europe during the late nineteenth-century, but also to create a more complex portrait of a city that experienced tremendous social and physical change," said Peter C. Marzio, MFAH director. "It is appropriate that this intense look at the city where Impressionism was born brings to a close a series of four exhibitions of Impressionist art that have traveled to the MFAH in the past year."
Originally built as a train station and hotel for the Universal Exposition of 1900, the Musée d´Orsay´s steel and glass structure, stucco decoration, and Beaux-Arts façade exemplify the spirit of Paris at the turn of the 20th century. Designed by Victor Laloux, the train station — the Gare d´Orsay — resembled the Grand Palais, which had been used as the primary temporary exhibition space for European art in Paris. The French State´s holdings of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings were formally housed in the Jeu de Paume pavilion, which, by the early 1970s, could no longer accommodate the growing collection.
In searching for a new home for the collection, French officials sought a building that could symbolically represent the modernity of the late 19th century. The Gare d´Orsay captured the bustle and excitement of Paris, and successfully conveyed the city´s sense of progress and growth. In 1986, the Musée d´Orsay opened its doors to the public, becoming one of three national museums in Paris, joining the Louvre and the Pompidou Centre.
Mary G. Morton, associate curator of European art who is organizing the exhibition in Houston, explains the importance and scope of the exhibition: "Given the specific nature of their history and location, it is remarkable that the group of works in this exhibition — through their original and sometimes outrageous use of color and manipulation of space and composition — continue to engage and excite viewers even today."
The exhibition is arranged in seven thematic groupings: "Paris, the Modern City," "High Society," "Grand Theaters," "The Dark Side of the City of Light," "The Eiffel Tower," "Art Nouveau," and "Avant-Garde at Century´s End." Each theme offers a different perspective of Paris at the point in time where history, art, society, science, fashion, architecture, and politics merged.
Paris, the Modern City
From boulevards to cafés to industry, life on the city streets was a favorite theme of the Impressionist painters of late 19th-century Paris. Claude Monet´s extraordinary Gare Saint-Lazare is shown in this section of the exhibition, along with works by Camille Pissarro, Gustave Caillebotte, and Maximilien Luce.
High Society
Artists like Édouard Manet, Jean Béraud, James Tissot, and Edgar Degas presented images during the age of Impressionism of Paris´s social and cultural elite. Fashion, entertainment, and portraiture are common in this section which includes Edgar Degas´s Orchestra of the Opera.
Grand Theaters
Along with its cafés and boulevards, the grand theaters of Paris - with their ornate Italian Renaissance designs - were the center of society life. The city´s theaters were places for Parisian high society to see and be seen. In the exhibition, architectural drawings, paintings, and sculpture reveal the significant impact of the theater on late 19th-century Parisian high society.
The Dark Side of the City of Light
While some artists celebrated industrial advancement and the benefits of modernity in the second half of the 19th century, others conveyed a sense of alienation and fragmentation in their depictions of Parisian life. This dark side is clearly represented in Degas´s Absinthe.
The Eiffel Tower
A symbol of strength, and a celebration of industrial advancement and the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution, Paris´s Eiffel Tower was embraced by many artists after its completion in 1889 as a new motif for their work. The exhibition features paintings, photographs, lithographs, and decorative art representative of the tower.
Art Nouveau
At the end of the century, many artists turned to creating decorative arts as a method of exploring the relationship between art and life, and as a rejection of industrial manufacturing. Works by René Lalique, Gallé Ateliers, and Pierre Bonnard reflect this style that was originally termed "Art Moderne."
Avant-Garde
With bright colors and expressive symbolism, this section of the exhibition looks at cutting edge innovations in the visual arts, primarily painting, with seminal works by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre Bonnard, and André Derain.

Paris in the Age of Impressionism: Masterworks from the Musée d´Orsay has been organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in collaboration with the Musée d´Orsay, Paris. Mary Morton, associate curator of European art, is installing the exhibition in Houston.