[Via SF Chronicle]
While Paris’ Musee d’Orsay undergoes extensive renovations starting next year, the de Young will host back-to-back shows of Impressionism and Post-Impression art from the Musee, showcasing more than 200 works from their historic collection.
John Buchanan, director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and a French-art enthusiast, called the touring shows “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” and “a real-time, picture-book walk-through of this glorious period in French art.” The exhibitions will begin shortly after the current Tut exhibit closes.
The first exhibit, “Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces From the Musee d’Orsay” will run from May 22, 2010, through September 6. This show will focus on 1874 Paris exhibition of Impressionist painters and feature well-known works such as Manet’s “The Fife Player” and James McNeil Whistler’s “Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1” (better known as “Whistler’s Mother”).
The second exhibit, “Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces From the Musee d’Orsay” runs September 25, 2010 to January 18, 2011. Highlights include such art-history staples as van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and “The Artist’s Bedroom at Arles” along with Rousseau’s rarely lent “The Snake Charmer” and several striking Tahitian paintings by Gauguin.
San Francisco will be the only city to host both of the Orsay’s traveling exhibits; other stops include Madrid, Tokyo and Nashville.
And if you are planning a trip to Paris, don’t worry, the Musee d’Orsay will remain open during its renovations. The Orsay, housed in a glorious, converted train station, will begin closing off some areas in December and will shut off the upper galleries for a year beginning in March 2010. The Post-Impressionist paintings that aren’t traveling will be moved to the terrace level. During renovations, 50-60 percent of the museum space will be in use.
Sarah B.
Oooooh…I loved the Musee d’Orsay collection…my favorite collection in Paris! Can’t wait to see what they are loaning out.