Impressionismus

How did the Impressionists paint? Painting Light is not just another Impressionist exhibition – it examines some of the most famous canvases of the last century, looking for clues as to where the paintings were made, under what conditions and, in some cases, by whom. The exhibition brings together over sixty masterpieces by Van Gogh, Signac, Sisley, Berthe Morisot and Renoir and others from the Wallraf-Richartz Museum Foundation Corboud, Cologne, and other museums.

The Impressionists were not only pioneers in style, they were first and foremost innovators in technique. This interactive exhibition invites the visitor to look at the paintings using modern technology – with high-power microscopes, under infra-red and ultra-violet light – in order to discover the secrets of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists.

It explores such as aspects as how the artists conveyed the quality of light at different times of the day and which conditions inspired them the most, what materials and work methods they used, where the painting was done (for example one painting even has sand in the paint confirming it was executed en plein air while others recreated outdoor scenes in the shelter of their Paris studios) as well as the history of the paintings.

Painting Light
Hidden techniques of the Impressionists
Kuratoren: Iris Schaefer, Katja Lewerentz, Caroline von Saint-George

Künstler: Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Paul Signac, Alfred Sisley ...

Stationen:
29.02.08 - 22.06.08 Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Köln
11.07.08 - 28.09.08 Palazzo Strozzi, Florenz
11.09.09 - 10.01.10 Albertina Wien