BYU NewsNet - MOA Exhibit Offers Look at Impressionism

A new art exhibit at BYU's Museum of Art is expected to attract large crowds and is said to be one of Utah's most impressive art shows.

"This is going to be one of the most beautiful art shows ever shown here in Utah," said Paul Anderson, curator of the exhibit.

"Paths to Impressionism" will open at the MOA Friday with art created throughout the Barbizon and Impressionist time periods. The exhibit contrasts French and American art during that time, showing the impact French art had on early American art.

The entire exhibit is organized in a chronological fashion, as if telling a story. Blue and green galleries will feature French paintings and gold galleries will showcase American paintings, making it easy to compare the two.

"Americans were always more conservative than the French," Anderson said. "The French liked to create a snapshot of time while the Americans always crafted a more careful composition."

Today Impressionism is considered an innovative and beautiful art period, but critics during the Impressionist period thought the opposite. The story of this exhibit shows how Impressionist art became more popular in society.

At the beginning of the Barbizon period, landscape art was considered a lower level of art. Artists typically worked for nobility or for churches creating mostly portraits and religious paintings.

"Impressionists wanted to paint things the way they were," Anderson said. "This was the beginning of artists thinking that they were counterculture people. These pictures are beautiful and easy to love, but they also tell a story. It's a story that happened in a couple of stages and is about how we got the tradition of landscape paintings."

The 41 pieces of art on display are a part of a traveling exhibition from the Worcester Art Museum, located in Massachusetts. The exhibit boasts popular names such as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, George Inness, Claude Monet, John Singer Sargent, Alfred Sisley and others.

"We are already at peak attendance right now with the 'Beholding Salvation' exhibit," said Christopher Wilson, marketing and communications manager at the museum. "This really is the best painting show that BYU has ever had. We are expecting the museum to be swamped."

WHAT: Paths to Impressionism
WHERE: Museum of Art (downstairs)
WHEN: Friday - July 8
HOURS: 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Monday - Friday, noon - 5 p.m. Saturday.