Inspiring Impressionism: the Impressionists and the Art of the Past August 24, 2008

While defining the specific characteristics that, in its time, made Impressionism provocative and new -- a focus on everyday subjects, spontaneity, luminosity, loose brushwork -- 'Inspiring Impressionism' launches an in-depth exploration of the links between the Impressionists and the major European art historical movements that preceded them. The exhibition then unfolds into a series of subject groups -- portraits, still lifes, landscapes, interiors and nudes -- with specific comparisons drawn between Impressionist works and the art of the past, as well as broader connections related to issues of subject, composition and technique.