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March 2, 2003 - May 25, 2003

PITTSBURGH, PA — Millet, Corot, Renoir, Matisse, Monet, Cassatt, van Gogh and Picasso are among the artists represented in a traveling exhibition opening at The Frick Art Museum on March 2, 2003. Millet to Matisse: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Painting from Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow features 64 of Kelvingrove’s most acclaimed paintings, many of which are rarely seen outside of Scotland. Dating from approximately 1830 to 1930, the works in the exhibition are organized thematically, offering a rare opportunity to view firsthand the breakthroughs in French painting of this period. Many of the artists who are represented challenged conventional modes of art making and played crucial roles in shaping the history of French painting.

One of the municipal institutions that constitute the Glasgow Museums, Kelvingrove Art Gallery houses a rich and important collection of French painting. Largely formed by gifts and bequests received during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the collection reflects Glasgow’s emergence in the nineteenth century as a center of trade and industry.

As the city grew increasingly cosmopolitan, local families who amassed fortunes from textiles and shipping began purchasing contemporary French art from numerous local art dealers.

The importance of Glaswegian dealers and collectors in the creation of Kelvingrove’s French collection is underscored in the exhibition by Vincent van Gogh’s enigmatic and expressive Portrait of Alexander Reid (1887). The most prominent dealer of Impressionist painting in Glasgow, Alexander Reid (1854-1928) was friendly with van Gogh and his brother, Theo. He later contributed a substantial number of works, through gifts and bequests, to Kelvingrove.

“The Frick is very pleased to be one of the American hosts of Millet to Matisse,” says William B. Bodine, Director of the Frick Art & Historical Center. “In addition to the opportunity to see one of the world’s preeminent collections of French painting, visitors will find that modern-day Glasgow and Pittsburgh have much in common. The economic prosperity that blossomed on both sides of the Atlantic during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries produced a cultural vitality that still energizes both cities today.”

Sponsorship
Millet to Matisse: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Painting from Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow is organized by the American Federation of Arts and Glasgow Museums. The Pittsburgh presentation is made possible, in part, by a generous grant from PNC Advisors, a member of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Additional funding has been provided by Richard King Mellon Foundation, Woodmere Foundation and The Helen Clay Frick Foundation. Promotional support has been provided by the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Millet to Matisse remains on view at The Frick Art Museum through May 25, 2003. During the run of the exhibition, the Frick will offer a full selection of educational programs for children and adults.

The Exhibition
Around 1830, a group of painters began to champion the French landscape as viable subject matter, breaking with the traditional prominence of history and religious painting established by the Academie Royale des Beaux-Artes. Millet to Matisse begins with a selection of works by the avant-garde painters of this time, known as artists of the Barbizon School. Important works include Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s The Woodcutter (1865-70); Théodore Rousseau’s highly charged landscape, The Edge of the Forest of Clairbois (ca. 1836-39); and Jean-François Millet’s monumental treatment of peasant life, Going to Work (1850-51).

The naturalist depictions of French landscape by the Barbizon artists paved the way for the Impressionists, who sought to capture the experience of modern life through direct observation. The development of Impressionism is well represented in Millet to Matisse with works such as Camille Pissarro’s The Banks of the Marne (1864), Claude Monet’s A View of Ventimiglia (1884), Alfred Sisley’s Boatyard at Saint-Mammès (ca. 1886), and three late paintings by Pierre Auguste Renoir.

Impressionism dominated the avant-garde world until the mid 1880s, when many artists began to experiment with color and line to represent emotional states. The unique pictorial vocabularies explored by Post-Impressionist artists can be seen in paintings such as Georges Seurat’s brooding Boy Sitting in a Meadow (ca. 1882-1883). Paul Gauguin’s Ostre Anlaeg Park, Copenhagen (1885) and an outstanding landscape by Vincent van Gogh also show how artists of the period, though aware of Impressionism, began to move beyond it.

In the early 1900s, Paris was the locus for innovations that influenced painting for the next 50 years. A Pierre Bonnard landscape and four intimate works by Edouard Vuillard—including Interior – The Drawing Room (1901)—represent the Nabis, a group that championed the decorative as a means of eliciting an emotional response from the viewer. The Fauves, who are represented by paintings such as Henri Matisse’s Woman In Oriental Dress (1919) and André Derain’s Blackfriars Bridge, London (winter 1906), were known for manipulating color in unexpected combinations. Pablo Picasso’s The Flower Seller (1901) and paintings by Georges Braque, Louis Marcoussis, Mary Cassatt, and Georges Rouault round out the selection of twentieth-century works and illustrate the wide range of styles pursued by artists working in Paris before 1930.

Millet to Matisse: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Painting from Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow is guest curated by Vivien Hamilton, Curator of Art at the Glasgow Museums and a lecturer at the University of Glasgow, Department of Art History. The exhibition opened at The Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky in November 2002. Following its presentation at the Frick, the exhibition will travel to Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha Nebraska; The Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico; the Musée du Québec, Québec City, Québec; Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan; and Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma.

Exhibition Catalogue
Millet to Matisse: Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Painting from Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow is accompanied by a full-color illustrated catalogue published by Yale University Press and Kelvingrove Art Gallery. The catalogue includes an introduction by Mark O’Neill, Head of Glasgow Museums; catalogue entries by Vivien Hamilton, Curator of Art at the Glasgow Museums; and essays by Hugh Stevenson, Curator of the Glasgow Museums, with Rosemary Watt; Art Historian Frances Fowle; Irene Maver, Lecturer in Scottish History, University of Glasgow; and Belinda Thomson, an expert on Post-Impressionism.

The soft-cover edition, which contains 115 color plates and 35 black-and-white comparative illustrations, will be available for $45.00 at the Frick’s Museum Shops.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery
Kelvingrove Art Gallery, one of the institutions that constitute the Glasgow Museums, houses what is widely acknowledged as the most important municipal collection of French paintings in Great Britain. Its origins began in 1854, with the bequest of a magnificent collection of paintings by Archibald McLellan, a wealthy Glasgow coachbuilder. In 1901, the city built Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to bring its art and scientific collections together under one roof. Today, the Glasgow Museums include 11 civic institutions that showcase collections ranging from Glasgow history, to medieval works of art, transportation, Spanish paintings and much more.

American Federation of Arts
Over the course of its 93-year history, the American Federation of Arts (AFA) has earned a reputation for initiating and developing art exhibitions of exceptional quality and scholarship that are presented in museums across the country and around the world. The AFA also provides educational and professional programs that serve the needs of the museum community. Through these programs, the AFA is able to fulfill its mission to bring great works of art to an extended audience and strengthen the ability of museums to enrich the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts. Please visit the AFA’s website at www.afaweb.org.

The Frick Art Museum
Part of the Frick Art & Historical Center in Pittsburgh, The Frick Art Museum contains the fine and decorative arts collections of Helen Clay Frick, daughter of industrialist and art collector Henry Clay Frick. In addition to exhibiting its permanent collection, which concentrates on Italian Renaissance and French eighteenth-century works, the Museum has an active program of temporary exhibitions.

The Frick Art Museum is open Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and Sunday 12:00–6:00 p.m. Free, docent-led tours of temporary exhibitions are offered Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For information, the public may call 412-371-0600, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

Millet to Matisse Shop
The Millet to Matisse exhibition inspires a special Museum Shop at The Frick Art Museum. Opening March 2, 2003, the Millet to Matisse Shop offers a sumptuous collection of Country French gift items, including tableware, pottery, tiles, clocks, photo albums, French-themed art books, prints and fine stationery. The Millet to Matisse Shop is open in The Frick Art Museum during regular site hours.

Frick Art & Historical Center
The Frick Art & Historical Center is located at 7227 Reynolds Street in Point Breeze.

Free parking is available in the Frick’s off-street lot, or along adjacent neighborhood streets. Hours of operation: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 – 6:00 p.m. Closed Mondays and major holidays.

For information and reservations, please call 412-371-0600, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Sunday.

For information and reservations for kids’ programs, please call 412-205-2022,
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Monday through Sunday.

For further information or images, please contact Greg Langel at the Frick Art & Historical Center at 412-371-0600, ext. 524, or at glangel@frickart.org.

Click here for more information about special events and programs offered in conjunction with Millet to Matisse.

Click here for more information about the Rendezvous in Pittsburgh Getaway Weekend Package.

Click here for more information on Glasgow Museums.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), <i>Portrait of Alexander Reid</i>, 1887. Oil on board, 16 1/2 x 13 in. Glasgow Museums, Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove. Courtesy AFA.

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875), <i>The Woodcutter</i>, ca. 1865-1870. Oil on canvas, 19 9/16 x 25 9/16 in. Glasgow Museums, Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove. Courtesy AFA.

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), <i>The Young Girls</i>, ca. 1885. Oil on canvas, 18 1/4 x 21 13/16 in. Glasgow Museums, Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove. Courtesy AFA.

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), <i>The Banks of the Marne</i>, 1864. Oil on canvas, 32 1/4 x 42 1/2 in. Glasgow Museums, Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove. Courtesy AFA.

Jean-François Millet (1814-1875), <i>Going to Work</i>, ca. 1850-1851. Oil on canvas, 21 7/8 x 18 1/8 in. Glasgow Museums, Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove. Courtesy AFA.