Impressionism and the Art of the Past

FAIN: MI-50039-06

Denver Art Museum (Denver, CO 80204-2788)
Timothy J. Standring (Project Director: February 2006 to December 2008)

Implementation of a traveling exhibition, a catalog, a website, a symposium, and other educational and public programs exploring how French impressionist artists drew on the art of the past.

Impressionism and the Art of the Past will show how often beneath the Impressionists’ commitment to innovation and to capturing contemporary life there lay a deep exploration of art from the past. The exhibition will look at how artists such as Manet, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, and Morisot, among others, became captivated and influenced by artists and artistic styles from earlier eras, specifically the Old Masters. The exhibition will discuss the impact these experiences had on their style and choice of subjects. It will also explore the circumstances that exposed the Impressionists to the Old Masters.