IN THE OPEN AIR:
Renoir & Impressionism

March 25 — June 5, 2005
Blank Two Gallery

Inspired by Renoir’s The Daughters of Durand-Ruel, on loan from the Chrysler Museum of Art, In the Open Air takes its title from the French phrase "en plein air," used to describe works created outdoors–a central practice of Impressionism. All of the works in this show depict outdoor scenes. Beginning in France during the 1860s, Impressionists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir attempted to paint candid glimpses of their subjects showing the effects of sunlight and weather at different times of day. Impressionism became a strong force in American art with artists such as Mary Cassatt and Childe Hassam, and continued as a style into the early twentieth century with an international group of Neo-Impressionists. In the Open Air traces Impressionism as a movement and a style through the Art Center’s collection.

This exhibition was organized by Laura Burkhalter, assistant curator.

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EXHIBITION RELATED PROGRAMS

Gallery Talk
Friday, May 6 7 pm
During Arts After Hours
Laura Burkhalter, assistant curator

Learn more about the popular art movement Impressionism with exhibition curator, Laura Burkhalter.

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Community Day
Sunday April 17, 1 — 3 pm

Enjoy an afternoon of painting demonstrations, entertainment, and children’s art activities inspired by In the Open Air. Refreshments provided by Gong Fu Tea House.

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Lecture
Painters in the Garden
May Brawley Hill
Thursday, April 21 7 pm
Levitt Auditorium

May Brawley Hill is an art historian specializing in American art, with a passion for gardening. She will deliver a lecture about Impressionism as it relates to her soon to be released book, "On Foreign Soil: American Gardeners Abroad." She writes, "Pleasure gardens have been painted as long as there have been gardeners making them. From the 1860s, the flower garden was a favorite motif with painters, many of them avid gardeners. These artists tended to avoid geometric flower beds for more free-form arrangements that reflected new movements in painting. French Impressionist Claude Monet's garden in Giverny is perhaps the best known artist's garden, but there are a number of American painters who created notable gardens at home and abroad."

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