SAVANNAH, GA.- Telfair Museums announced a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition that brings four paintings of French master Claude Monet to Savannah for the first time in the city’s history. Monet and American Impressionism will be on display at the Jepson Center for the Arts from October 16, 2015 -- January 24, 2016. The museum will host a lively, French-country themed opening celebration on October 15 and will offer a variety of speakers, family days, painting workshops, and other activities during the run of the show.

“We invite visitors to bask in the open landscapes and idyllic afternoons portrayed in this beautiful exhibition,” said Telfair Museums director and CEO Lisa Grove. “As viewers move through dozens of paintings, they will see how Monet inspired some of the greatest American Impressionists of all time.”

Claude Monet (1840-1926) galvanized the work of countless artists as a founder of the French art movement called “Impressionism.” Monet’s use of bright colors, his loose brush strokes, and his focus on painting the fleeting effects of light were a shocking departure from traditional European art of the time.

Monet and other Paris-based artists introduced Impressionism to the French public in the 1870s, and beginning in the 1880s, American artists took up Monet’s modern approach to light and color. The movement was promoted by American artists, collectors, and art writers. Its popularity continued for forty years, making Impressionism one of the longest-lived and most enthralling artistic expressions in the history of American art.

“Leading American artists including Mary Cassatt, J. Alden Weir, and Childe Hassam adapted the innovations of French Impressionism and began to create a uniquely American style of painting,” said Courtney McNeil, Telfair Museums’ curator of fine arts and exhibitions. “In Monet and American Impressionism, the viewer can see how these artists captured moments from everyday life, including domestic scenes of women and children, sweeping landscapes, and images of modern life in American cities.”

Exhibition Organized in Five Thematic Groupings:
The American paintings presented in the exhibition span the years between 1887 and 1920. The oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, and prints are grouped along five themes that parallel many of the subjects found in Monet’s work. The American pieces indicate an awareness of Monet’s innovations, but it is evident that the Americans responded to Monet in different ways and to varying degrees.

“The Allure of Giverny”
Early American Impressionist pioneers felt Monet’s influence most profoundly. A number of the artists spent extended periods of time in Giverny, the township on the River Seine where Claude Monet made his home and famous garden. In Giverny, the Americans painted outdoors and enjoyed the camaraderie of other artists, many of whom stayed at the Hotel Baudy.

Notably, during the same time that Telfair Museums will be showing Monet and American Impressionism, the museum also will offer Mickalene Thomas at Giverny, a dazzling mixed media, 21st century exhibition. Mickalene Thomas works in Brooklyn, New York and completed an artist’s residency at Monet’s home in Giverny in 2011.

“A Country Retreat”
During the summer, American artists often escaped the city for the countryside, where they painted landscapes inspired by Monet. Many painters gathered in artist colonies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire to paint outside together.

“The Vibrance of Urbanism”
Americans painting during this time found a popular subject in contemporary city life. Common themes included views of city streets and harbors, skyscrapers and bridges that celebrated feats of modern engineering, and city parks populated with figures enjoying leisure activities.

“The Comfort of Home”
Painting domestic scenes was very important to the American Impressionists. The images often depict women’s daily lives in comfortable interiors or in beautiful gardens, representing domestic tranquility of middle- and upper-class society.

“A Graphic Legacy”
The French Impressionists are known today primarily as painters, but they also worked experimentally in printmaking. A number of American artists represented in the exhibition were attracted to the opportunities for fresh expression offered by the medium of print, and created etchings, drypoints, and lithographs that could be enjoyed by the middle class. Monet did not make prints with his own hands, but collaborated with other artists to translate some of his paintings into the print medium for publication in the press.

Six Canvases from Telfair Museums’ Permanent Collection on Display
As the oldest public art museum in the South, Telfair Museums holds numerous major works from American Impressionists in its permanent collection. Six Telfair paintings are on display in the exhibition, including three from American Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939). Frieseke rented a house in Giverny next door to Claude Monet from 1900-1919. Monet and his family had a cordial relationship with the Friesekes, and they sometimes enjoyed tea together. The six Telfair paintings are:

• The Garden Umbrella by Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1910
• The Hammock by Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1915
• Reflections (Marcelle) by Frederick Carl Frieseke, 1909
• Avenue of the Allies, by Childe Hassam, 1917
• Unpretentious Garden, by Gari Melchers, 1903-1909
• Buttercup Time by Willard Leroy Metcalf, 1920