French Moderns: Monet to Matisse 1850-1950

The years between the Revolution of 1848 and the end of World War II were characterised by profound social, intellectual, and political change in France. The art world, centred in Paris, also witnessed remarkable transformations as artists experimented with bold, expressive styles. Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism...All emerged in and around the French capital during this period, and had profound impacts on the Western artistic canon. This splendid volume featuring 59 works from the Brooklyn Museum's renowned European collection, celebrates France as the artistic centre of international modernism from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Ranging widely in scale, subject matter, and style, these paintings and sculptures were produced by the era's leading artists, both French-born and others who studied and worked in France. The 47 artists represented include Bonnard, Caillebotte, Cezanne, Chagall, Degas, Matisse, Monet, Redon, Renoir, and Rodin.Organised 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. Accompanies a major travelling exhibition, the venues and dates of which are: McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas: February 22 May 21, 2017; TK: June 16 October 8, 2017; Baker Museum, Naples, Florida: November 3, 2017 January 28, 2018; TK: February 23 May 20, 2018; Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba, Canada: June 15 September 9, 2018; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa: October 5, 2018 January 6. 2019.

Richard Aste, now Director of the McNay Art Museum, was formerly the Brooklyn Museum's Curator of European Art. Cora Michael is Associate Curator of Exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum. Lisa Small is Curator of European Painting and Sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum.