Henri Fatin-Latour's Still Life With Vase of Hawthorn, Bowl of Cherries, Japanese Bowl and Cup and Saucer, 1872. Dallas Museum of Art, Foundation for the Arts Collection
The exhibition follows landmark developments in the genre across nearly two centuries, and is loosely organized chronologically. A brief synopsis of topic areas follows below:
18th-Century Paintings — The introductory section of the exhibition explores the foundations for the formal experiments of the 19th century, and includes works by early masters such as Anne Vallayer-Coster, Jean Siméon Chardin and Pierre-Joseph Redouté.
The Lyon School — Lyon, a center for French textile production, would serve as an important hub for experimentation and exploration of still-life painting. The section explores the relationships between academic flower painting, decorative applications of still life, and the demands of mass production in textiles. The section features works by seminal Lyonnais painters who responded to these trends, including Antoine Berjon and Simon Saint-Jean, whose success rose with the expanding economy of the region.
Early Impressionist Influences — This area examines the work of Delacroix and Courbet within the contemporary productions of artists in the Lyon school and the first stirrings of impressionist still lifes by Frédéric Bazille and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Henri Fantin-Latour — This section includes a diverse selection of paintings by specialist Fantin-Latour, exploring the influence of Chardin's oeuvre on his practice as well as the impact of still life paintings by his contemporaries.
Impressionist Practice — During the1870s and 1880s, artists began taking greater liberties with color, light and space. The exhibition features works by artists such as Camille Pissarro, Cézanne and Renoir, as well as contemporary flower paintings by Manet.
After Impressionism — The section examines the years between the end of the impressionist movement and the close of the 19th century, with a particular emphasis on van Gogh's deep interest in the genre and lasting impact on contemporaries.
20th-Century Explorations — The exhibition concludes with the work of three 20th-century artists who continued the floral still-life tradition: Odilon Redon, Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse.
About the Exhibition
Bouquets: French Still-Life Painting from Chardin to Matisse developed from strong partnerships fostered by the French Regional American Museum Exchange (FRAME) and is co-organized by Dr. Mitchell Merling, the Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art, VMFA, and Dr. Heather MacDonald, the Lillian and James H. Clark Associate Curator of European Art, DMA. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, Working Among Flowers: Floral Still-Life Painting in Nineteenth-Century France, distributed by Yale University Press with contributions by the exhibition’s curators and other invited scholars, including Audrey Gay-Mazuel, Curator, Department of the Nineteenth Century at the Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris; Olivier Meslay, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art at the Dallas Museum of Art; and Sylvie Patry, Chief Curator of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
The exhibition tour includes:
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (October 26, 2014–February 8, 2015); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (March 21, 2015–June 21, 2015); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (July 19, 2015–October 11, 2015)
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