On April 15, 1874, an exhibition organized by the "Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, etc." opened in Paris at the studio of the photographer Nadar on the Boulevard des Capucines. These artists would soon become known by another name: the Impressionists. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition, join Dr. Kimberly Jones, Curator of Nineteenth-Century French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, as she invites you to travel back in time to a Paris still recovering from civil war but full of energy and optimism. There you will meet the diverse band of artists who started a revolution in art and learn about the rich artistic landscape in which it flourished.
Kimberly A. Jones received her PhD from the University of Maryland in 1996. A former museum fellow at the Musée national du château de Pau and the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, she joined the curatorial staff of the National Gallery of Art in 1995. Jones has served as curator and catalogue author for a number of exhibitions devoted to French art of the 19th century, including Degas at the Races (1998), Edouard Vuillard (2003–2004), In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet (2008), From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection (2010–2011), Degas/Cassatt (2014), Frédéric Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism (2016–2017), and, most recently, Degas at the Opéra (2020). She is part of the curatorial team for Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment, which opens in Paris at the Musée d’Orsay in March 2024 before traveling to Washington in September.
Schedule of Events:
Performance with Bombshell Dance Project, Hamon Atrium; 1:00 p.m.
Immerse yourself in a movement-based performance by Bombshell Dance Project inspired by the exhibitions The Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse and From Munch to Kirchner: The Heins Collection of Modern and Expressionist Art.
Bombshell Dance Project is a contemporary dance company founded by Emily Bernet and Taylor Rodman. The company is driven by collaboration and committed to redefining the audience experience through new formats that bring you closer to dance.
Talk: The Day Impressionism Began, Horchow Auditorium; 2:00–3:00 p.m
This lecture is presented by the Richard R. Brettell Lecture Series.
Image: La Loge, 1874. Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Oil on canvas. The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust). Photo © The Courtauld.