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The Phillips Collection, a gem of a museum in Washington, D.C., celebrated its 70th birthday by hosting a magnificent exhibit of 60 Impressionist masterpieces. Produced in 1997 by the PBS affiliate WETA, this half-hour program includes detailed images of these masterpieces as well as interviews with the director and the curators, plus historical photographs and footage of the artists and their surroundings. The focus of the exhibition was the 12 years between 1869 and 1881 when these artists developed a new style of painting on and around the River Seine. The works painted by Monet and Renoir as they stood side by side on the river are particularly revealing, as Monet was already fascinated by the reflections of light on water while Renoir focused on what the figures were doing. Seeing these two paintings together for the first time since 1908 allows one to appreciate the genius of both artists. Also of particular interest is the detailed explanation of the Phillips Collection's prized painting, Renoir's
Luncheon of the Boating Party. The program layers x-rays over the painting itself, revealing that Renoir changed his composition in a number of places. This program will be a treat to lovers of painting and in particular of Impressionism.
--Anne Barclay Morgan
Product Description
Impressionists on the Seine captures the beauty and moods of life along the River Seine in the 1870s. Archival photos and over 45 masterpieces by celebrated French Impressionists re-create the intense period (1869-1881) when these painters established a new course for Western art. The works of Renoir, Monet, Manet, Sisley, Pissarro, Morisot, and Caillebotte are discussed by historians and the experts who organized The Phillips Collection exhibit on which this program is based.
