Philadelphia Museum of Art to Be Only U.S. Stop for Major Impressionist Exhibit

Dance at Bougival, 1883, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Big news in the Philly art scene this week: The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) just announced that it will be the only U.S. city to house an upcoming international exhibition that includes works from Impressionist greats, like Manet, Monet, Degas and Renoir, among others.

“Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting” highlights the impact of Parisian art dealer Durand-Ruel, who championed the works of the aforementioned Impressionist painters, giving rise to the medium we know and love today. A description from the Art Museum:

Despite the popularity of Impressionism today, the groundbreaking shifts that occurred in French painting at the end of the nineteenth century were not immediately embraced by collectors, dealers, or the public. A vital figure in the rise of Impressionism is Paul Durand-Ruel (1831–1922), a practical, ambitious, and visionary Parisian art dealer who enthusiastically championed the new style of painting. “Discovering the Impressionists” examines the critical years from 1865 to 1905 when Durand-Ruel both inspired and sustained artists like Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, and Edgar Degas.

“Discovering the Impressionists” will include 80 works by Monet, Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, Degas and others—all shown alongside historical photographs and documents bringing to life this pivotal moment in time for the Impressionist movement.

The exhibit was organized by PMA, London’s National Gallery and Réunion des Musées Nationaux-Grand Palais in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Like I said before, Philadelphia is one of only three stops of the exhibition worldwide. I think that makes it about as must-see as it can be.

It starts on June 24th and runs through September 13th. For more information, including a detailed biography of Durand-Ruel, visit the Museum’s website here.