{"id":701112,"date":"2026-07-20T06:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/701112\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T06:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:34:13","slug":"tracing-art-from-impressionism-through-to-abstract-expressionism-and-from-ohio-to-adelaide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/701112\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracing art from impressionism through to abstract expressionism, and from Ohio to Adelaide"},"content":{"rendered":"

A feast of modern art from the Toledo Museum of Art has just opened at the Art Gallery of South Australia.<\/p>\n

Featuring some big names \u2013 Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, \u00c9douard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Berthe Morisot, Henri Matisse and much more \u2013 the exhibition spans innovation, experimentation and social change from impressionism<\/a> through to abstract expressionism<\/a> from the 1870s to the 1970s in France and America.<\/p>\n

It includes 57 key works from Toledo, augmented by works from the Adelaide gallery\u2019s collection, displayed thematically. It surprises on many levels. <\/p>\n

The sheer quality of the Toledo works is undisputable. And this is an exhibition that doesn\u2019t suffer from padding of inferior work around a few masterpieces, as can happen in an exhibition of this kind. <\/p>\n

Viewers see wonderful work at every turn such as Charles Sheeler\u2019s Variation in Red (1949), acquired that year, and tucked away in the final gallery.<\/p>\n

A trans-Atlantic art history<\/p>\n

The Toledo collection tells a trans-Atlantic story. In the late 19th century and into the 20th, American artists were the largest group<\/a> of expatriate artists in Paris. <\/p>\n

Artists such as Everett Longley Warner headed for Paris in 1903. By the time he returned home in 1909, his close study of impressionism takes on a local inflection in Along the Riverfront, New York (1912). <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Installation view: Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition, 2026, featuring Along the River Front by Everett Longley Warner and Regatta at Trouville by Gustave Caillebotte, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.<\/p>\n

His colourful, light-saturated portrayal of the busy, bustling warehouses and horsedrawn transports under the newly built and modern Brooklyn Bridge are enlivened by his loose, rapidly applied brush strokes. <\/p>\n

The trans-Atlantic story shifts from Paris to New York after the second world war, and from then on the main players are American abstractionists like Hans Hofmann and Robert Rauschenberg. Emigres such Laszlo-Moholy-Nagy, a Bauhaus teacher, fled Germany in 1937 for the America.<\/p>\n

The gallery is filled with stunning paintings such as Edgar Degar\u2019s informal portrait of fellow artist Victoria Dubourg (c. 1868\u20139), who leans forward as if in lively conversation with Degas. Her professionalism is affirmed by the inclusion of one of her paintings in the composition. <\/p>\n

\"Oil<\/a><\/p>\n

Edgar Degas, born Paris, France 1834, died Paris, France 1917, Victoria Dubourg, c.1868-1869, oil on canvas, 81.3 x 64.8 cm; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Levis, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, United States of America.<\/p>\n

Then there is Manet\u2019s commanding rendition of his friend Antonin Proust (1880), who leans casually on his walking stick. Dressed in a black three-quarter length coat there are some distinctive touches such as his lapel flower, pocket scarf and gloves.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Edouard Manet, born Paris, France 1832, died Paris, France 1883, Antonin Proust, 1880, oil on canvas, 129.5 x 95.9 cm, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, United States of America.<\/p>\n

Immersed in the work<\/p>\n

At every turn, there is much close attention to gradated wall colour moving from tones of white in the early galleries to more intense colour, and considered image pairing.<\/p>\n

For Van Gogh\u2019s Wheat Fields with Reapers, Auvers, (1890), hung on a white wall, curator Tansy Curtin wants viewers to stop, spend time looking and take in the painting in all its richness of colour, brush strokes, texture and composition. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Vincent van Gogh, born Zundert, Netherlands 1853, died Auvers-sur-Oise, France 1890, Wheat Fields with Reaper, Auvers, 1890, oil on canvas, 73.6 x 93.0 cm; Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, United States of America.
\n Impressionist painting of a wheat field and sky.<\/p>\n

She wants the direct encounter with a major artwork to count, as compared with a five second glance at a digital image. <\/p>\n

On the day I visited, her method was working: viewers were immersed in the work, taking in all of its rich detail.<\/p>\n

What intrigues throughout the exhibition is the materiality of each painting. <\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

Installation view: Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition, 2026, featuring Dancer Resting by Henri Matisse and Paul Guillaume by Amedeo Modigliani, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.<\/p>\n

In Matisse\u2019s stunning and overtly sexual portrayal of his mistress in Dancer Resting (1940), the bold areas of lively colour dominate. <\/p>\n

In Picasso\u2019s analytic cubist composition, Women in a Black Hat (1909), his loosely defined areas of contrasting colour and line permit the image to shine through. <\/p>\n

In Berthe Morisot\u2019s In the Garden at Maurencourt (1884), the lively loose thick paint strokes convey the lushness of the garden. <\/p>\n

In Paul Signac\u2019s delicate pointillist painting, Entrance to the Grand Canal, Venice (1905), close looking reveals how each brush stroke was meticulously applied.<\/p>\n

\"Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n

Installation view: Monet to Matisse : Defying Tradition , 2026 , Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.<\/p>\n

Then in Albers\u2019 Homage to the Square, White Setting (1959) and Mondrian\u2019s Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and Gray (1922), areas of flat geometric colour dominate.<\/p>\n

The highlight of the exhibition is Monet\u2019s Waterlilies (c. 1922). A semi-abstract floating field of colour and line dissolves in light, while also radiating blues, greens and mauves. <\/p>\n

It is thoughtfully displayed against a curved pale green wall, and underlit to enhance its luminous ephemerality.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Installation view: Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition, 2026, featuring Water Lilies by Claude Monet, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.<\/p>\n

A great story of American philanthropy<\/p>\n

Viewers entering the exhibition could benefit from an introductory wall text about how the Toledo Art Museum in Ohio, has such a wonderful collection. <\/p>\n

It is one of those great stories of American philanthropy. Turn-of-the-century glass manufacturer Edward Drummond Libbey<\/a>, wealthy due to the new methods of large-scale glass production, and his wife Florence decided the city needed an art museum, which they built (it opened in 1912) and a collection which they began, and then funded in perpetuity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Colourwork<\/a><\/p>\n

Installation view: Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition, 2026, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; photo: Saul Steed.<\/p>\n

The exhibition comes with a beautifully produced exhibition catalogue, carrying a full-page entry on 32 of the 57 artists, but short essays on important American artists such as Robert Henri and William Merritt Chase would assist Australian viewers. An essay on the origins of the Toledo collection is missing too. <\/p>\n

A pity, because it is a story of philanthropy and foresight.<\/p>\n

On a sober note, the exhibition is a reminder of the gendered nature of collections (and art history). Only 8 of the 57 paintings on display are by women, a mere 14%. <\/p>\n

Feminist art historians have been completing the picture<\/a>, adding women artists to histories of impressionism since the late 1970s. But galleries have been slower in redressing the gender imbalance in their collection areas. Toledo acquired four of the paintings on show by women in just the past decade. <\/p>\n

But this is an important exhibition, beautifully displayed. The paintings require close looking \u2013 and for many, a return visit.<\/p>\n

Monet to Matisse: Defying Tradition is at the Art Gallery of South Australia until November 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A feast of modern art from the Toledo Museum of Art has just opened at the Art Gallery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,1120,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-701112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}