Fame and beauty don’t always go hand-in-hand, but art lovers just might find themselves dazzled on both fronts in Alabama.
More than 100 works from big names — including legends such as Monet, Cezanne, Renoir, Rodin, Matisse, Courbet and Pissarro — will be on view this year at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
The show, called “Monet to Matisse: French Moderns, 1850-1950,″ runs Jan. 30-May 24, and is primed for blockbuster status at the museum, 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd.
Claude Monet (1840–1926). “Le Matin, temps brumeux, Pourville (Misty Morning at Pourville),” 1882, oil on canvas. Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art; museum purchase with funds provided by 1977 and 1980-1983
Museum Dinner and Balls.(Birmingham Museum of Art)
Art aficionados here are certain to care about the exhibit, for its significant size and for the quality of the works on view, more than half of which come from the Brooklyn Museum of Art. People with a casual interest in art — let’s say, the same folks who flocked to the immersive Van Gogh shows in Birmingham and Huntsville — are likely to be drawn to “Monet to Matisse,” as well.
Although there won’t be a soundtrack or enormous images beamed onto the walls — both of which are featured in immersive productions — the exhibit features a wealth of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, organized into sections focusing on landscapes, still lifes, nudes and portraits.
Berthe Morisot (French, 1841–1895). “Madame Boursier and Her Daughter,” circa 1873, oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund.(Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum)
The Birmingham Museum of Art managed to nearly double the size of the traveling show, organizers said, by pulling artworks from its own collection. That should make the Alabama version of the exhibit — which has previously stopped in Texas, Florida, Oregon, South Carolina and elsewhere — even more impressive.
If you’ve ever cracked open an art book or sipped coffee from a colorful mug bought in a museum shop, “Monet to Matisse” is likely to strike a chord with you. Visual arts buffs, meanwhile, can look forward to examining some masterworks.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919). “Still Life with Blue Cup,” circa 1900, oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, bequest of Laura L. Barnes.(Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum)
If you go: “Monet to Matisse: French Moderns, 1850–1950″ will be on view Jan. 30-May 24 at the Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd. Admission to the museum is free, but tickets are required to see the exhibit, priced at $10-$19.51. Tickets are sold for specific days in timed intervals, via the museum website. An opening night lecture and reception is sold out.