“Monet to Matisse: A Century of French Moderns”
Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Carpet Merchant of Cairo. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Joseph Gluck, 74.208. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Aside from the bewildering sensation of viewing classics from the 1800s that still fall under the heading of “Modernism,” the McNay’s new spectacle “Monet to Matisse: A Century of French Moderns” boasts a number of dichotomies and surprises. Although it might seem like an unlikely pairing to begin with, McNay director Richard Aste describes the San Antonio institution’s collaboration with New York-based presenting partner the Brooklyn Museum as “a reunion decades in the making.” Marrying “nearly 60 paintings and sculptures from Brooklyn’s renowned European art collection” with a selection of works culled from the McNay’s like-minded holdings, the exhibition extends far beyond masters Monet and Matisse to highlight works by Rodin, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne and other legends you may recall from Art History 101. And if the promise of viewing 19th-century masterpieces in the sleek, contemporary confines of the McNay’s Tobin Exhibition Galleries isn’t enough of a draw, consider the fact that the museum recently “tore down” interior walls to create an open plan “that both showcases the beauty of [architect Jean-Paul] Viguier’s design to great effect and provides visitors with a fresh and dynamic experience.” $15-$20 (free for visitors 19 and under), 10am-9pm Thu, 10am-4pm Fri, 10am-5pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun, McNay Art Museum, 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave., (210) 824-5368, mcnayart.org. — Bryan Rindfuss
Paul Cézanne, The Village of Gardanne. Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and Alfred T. White Fund, 23.105. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
