Monet to Matisse: French Moderns from the Brooklyn Museum, 1850–1950

In the 19th century through World War II, Paris was the center of the art world. The revolution of artistic modernism was consequently centered in France, with artists of many countries active and contributing to dynamic change. Monet to Matisse showcases 59 masterworks from the distinguished Brooklyn Museum collection of French modernism.

Monet to Matisse will reflect the key artistic movements that emerged in Paris during 1850 to 1950 and wholly transformed the Western art world. Impressionism, symbolism, fauvism, cubism, and surrealism are explored in the work of such leading artists as Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Wichita Art Museum visitors are in for a rare treat and the chance for firsthand encounters with the artists who pioneered modernism.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website 

Whether or not you go, the accompanying book Monet to Matisse: French Moderns from the Brooklyn Museum, 1850–1950 celebrates France as the artistic center of international modernism from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Organized into four sections, the works in this book exemplify the successive avant-garde movements that defined modern art in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, tracing a shift from naturalism to the rise of abstraction. Chapters on 'Landscape,' 'Still Life,' 'Portraits and Figures,' and 'The Nude,' invite the reader to discover comparisons and contrasts across time and mediums.

Click to add this lush book to your library: Monet to Matisse: French Moderns from the Brooklyn Museum, 1850–1950