iArt Gallery of OntarioGrange Park
The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art
This exhibition has ended.
Canadian debut of the Dallas Museum of Art's survey of Impressionism and its legacy, with Monet, Morisot, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Gauguin, Matisse, Mondrian and Munch.
Museum websiteMore in Toronto
At an auction in 1917, Monet's The Water Lily Pond (Clouds) fooled the room: the reflected clouds looked so real that people thought the painting was hanging upside down. Here it gets a gallery of its own, one of two Water Lilies set apart from the rest.
All 50 works come from the Dallas Museum of Art, spanning the 1870s to the 1920s in five sections on Level 4. You walk in to Caillebotte's sun-dappled garden path, then move through Paris street scenes, plein-air technique and landscapes to a last room of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Mondrian and Matisse. The curator wants to remind people how radical all this was. If you own a water-lily umbrella, she means you.
The Globe and Mail's Kate Taylor called it "a pleasant opportunity to see strong, lesser-known examples", but found that radical thesis "overstated". It's included with general admission and closes 18 October, with extra early and evening slots for Members and Annual Passholders in the final week.
Editor's pick
The Dallas Museum of Art's survey of Impressionism and its legacy makes its Canadian debut, running from Monet and Morisot through Van Gogh and Gauguin to Matisse, Mondrian and Munch.
Look for
Monet's Water Lilies (1908)
Look for the one where the horizon has gone entirely, leaving only water and a swirl of green brushstrokes that verges on abstraction.
Morisot's The Port of Nice
Docked sailboats painted from a rented boat, away from jeering onlookers, with water filling two-thirds of the canvas and raw canvas left bare in the corners.
Pissarro's Place du Théâtre Français: Fog Effect
A Paris plaza seen from his hotel window under pink and purple winter fog, the carriages and pedestrians reduced to loose strokes.
Monet's Still Life, Tea Service
Velvety sage leaves against a red lacquered tray and blue-and-white china, with light glinting off the spoon: Monet indoors, two years before the first Impressionist show.
Van Gogh's Sheaves of Wheat
Harvested wheat in thick gold and violet strokes, painted in the last month of his life at Auvers-sur-Oise.
Good for
- First-Timers
- Going Solo
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Skip if
You want a fresh argument about Impressionism: the Globe's critic found the radical-break thesis overstated.
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Image credits
7
- Art Gallery of OntarioOwen Byrne / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
- Always In FashionPhoto by Darren Rigo.
- Made By Many: 50 Years of the Textile Museum of CanadaPhoto by Darren Rigo
- Retracing Tatreez: Palestinian Thobes through the 20th CenturyCourtesy of Textile Museum of Canada
- Textile Museum of CanadaRaysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0
- Campbell House MuseumJK Liu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary PhotographyEWilson (Volunteer), Wikimedia Commons, CC0