From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes

Charting a journey through France, this exhibition examines how place informed the work of modern painters in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Life in and around Paris and the coastal regions of Normandy and Brittany inspired the radical brushwork, light palette, and contemporary subject matter of impressionists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, their mentor and friend Édouard Manet, and the post-impressionists. Several of these painters subsequently moved to the South of France, seeking the warmer climate and dazzling sunlight that intensified their colors. This exhibition especially highlights Vincent van Gogh’s time in Arles and Saint-Rémy as well as Paul Cézanne’s deep connection to his native Provence. Finally, the show returns to Paris to find a new generation of painters who flocked to the City of Light from across Europe—Amedeo Modigliani, Chaïm Soutine, Giorgio De Chirico, and Joan Miró—and reaffirmed the French capital’s place as the center of modern art.

On view in the Roberts Gallery, From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes presents more than 50 paintings from the first floor of the Barnes collection, in a display that reflects the expansion of our educational program, emphasizing the objects’ art-historical context. By placing iconic works in new contexts and juxtapositions, the exhibition encourages fresh perspectives.

While the exhibition is on view, the first floor of the Barnes collection will be closed for floor maintenance.