GALLERY

Impressionist Collection from Musée d'Orsay at National Gallery Singapore

By Edric / 22 Nov 2017 (Wednesday)

First exhibition on Impressionism in Southeast Asia shows how this influential art movement transformed painting with a bold new use of colour and style.

If the conservative art academy in 19 century Paris had its way, the only paintings recognized as masterpieces today might be the carefully composed and often theatrical paintings that characterized the schools of Neo-Classicism and Romanticism. However, in the 1960s, a group of young painters such as Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir began to challenge the status quo by taking a revolutionary approach to painting light and using colour – giving the rise to one of the most recognizable and beloved art movements today: Impressionism.

Inspired by the rapid technological innovations of the late 19th century, these Impressionists moved out of their studios to open air to capture the fleeting effects of light as it appeared before them, using newly available pigments and discoveries in the science and theory of colour. To trace the development of the movement most closely identified with the emergence of the modern era, National Gallery Singapore has collaborated with the Musée d'Orsay in Paris – one of the world’s leading modern art museums – to present Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay.

Curated by Marine Kisiel and Paul Perrin from the Musée d'Orsay, the exhibition features a collection of over 60 stunning masterpieces by the foremost innovators of the art movement. Giving a nod to the Impressionists’ radical use of colour, the paintings are presented in thematic sections based on colours used by leading artists of Impressionism such as Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne at different stages of their careers.

The exhibition is part of the Century of Light showcase of art from the 19th century. It will be complemented by Between Worlds: Raden Saleh and Juan Luna, which takes a regional perspective on this period of enormous change through the eyes of two prominent Southeast Asian artists whi lived and worked in Europe. Both exhibitions will be held at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery from 16 November 2017 to 11 March 2018.

Entry to the exhibition cost S$15 for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, and S$25 for Non-Singaporeans. Concessions rates are also available at S$10 and S$20 respectively.

IMAGES (19)