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The museum provided a sneak preview of the exhibit Monday. It also unveiled three works never before seen at the museum.
The crowd oohed and ahhed as the black cloths were pulled off to reveal the pieces, which included Paul Signac’s “Les Andelys, l’île à Lucas” and Camille Pissarro’s “Le Quai du Pothuis, Pontoise,” both part of the Impressionist exhibit, and Thomas Cole’s “View of Boston.”
“View of Boston” was only on display for the evening. It offered a super early preview of a Hudson River School exhibit that the
museum will host next spring. The exhibit will feature artists from the mid-19th century American movement that focused on themes of discovery, exploration and settlement in a pastoral setting.
Only three people knew what was behind the black cloths covering the three works: Bob Kierlin and his wife Mary Burrichter, who own the pieces at the museum, and curator Jon Swanson.
“I’m a good secret keeper,” Burrichter said before the unveiling.
Other works that are part of the Impressionist exhibit include Pissarro’s “Le Louvre, après-midi” and paintings by George Bellows, Eugène Boudin, Frederick Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer and William Glackens.
Impressionism was a 19th century movement in which artists used visible brushstrokes and emphasized light and its changing qualities. The subjects were often ordinary. The artists moved from their studios to paint outdoors. Many of the paintings have an almost blurry beauty to them.
“Like anything that looks effortless and beautiful, there’s always a lot of effort,” Swanson said.
As is often the case with art, it took awhile for Impressionists to be appreciated. The Impressionists’ art movement later spawned similar movements in music and in literature.
“They didn’t want to do what was already being done,” Swanson said.
Käri Knutson is a reporter for the Winona Daily News. Contact her at (507) 453-3523.
