Art enthusiasts don’t have to travel far to view world-class masterpieces.
A new exhibition called “Monet and American Impressionism” will open for viewing today at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art.
“I keep hearing from my colleagues that many people they’ve met in recent months are talking about the exhibition,” said Dulce Román, the Harn curator for modern art. “It was really exciting for me to hear that there is such a buzz.”
Román said students who visit the exhibition will learn that impressionism goes beyond what we think it is, opening viewer’s eyes to the response American artists had to the works of Monet and the French impressionists.
Jackie Bontjes, a 19-year-old UF finance sophomore with a love for art, said she cannot wait to see the exhibition.
“Impressionist art has always been a huge interest of mine ever since I saw Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ painting in the MoMA,” Bontjes wrote in a message. “I’m glad that UF is working so hard to bring in new and interesting art pieces that have such a historic place in the realm of art.”
Román said the exhibition will feature iconic works from Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Willard Metcalf, Theodore Robinson, John Henry Twachtman and J. Alden Weir.
The pieces are from more than 25 institutions, including the National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Terra Foundation for American Art and Brooklyn Museum.
The exhibition will be on display until May 24.
“I hope the show will encourage people who have never been to the Harn to come to see and hear about Monet and French impressionism,” Román said, “and the way their works revolutionized American painting.”
