Major exhibition of French modern art opens October 5

Monet, Matisse, and much more courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum

The Columbia Museum of Art announced French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950, a major exhibition on view Saturday, October 5, 2024, through Sunday, January 5, 2025. Organized by the Brooklyn Museum, French Moderns showcases more than 50 works from its distinguished collection, encompassing the key avant-garde movements that emerged in and around Paris during this period.

The exhibition’s regional debut will be celebrated at the CMA’s French Moderns Preview Party on Friday, October 4.

“It is rare for works with this degree of importance and quality to travel outside of major institutions,” says CMA Senior Curator Michael Neumeister. “This presents a wonderful opportunity for our community to experience significant works of art by some of the most familiar and important names in art history.”

Among the exemplary works featured is Henri Matisse’s Flowers (1906). This modernist still life was famously included in the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art — known as the Armory Show — in New York, the first major exhibition of modern European art in the U.S.

In France, the years between the Revolution of 1848 and the end of World War II were characterized by sweeping social, intellectual, and political change. The Western art world, centered in Paris, also witnessed remarkable transformations as artists experimented with bold, expressive styles that revitalized traditional genres.

French Moderns features remarkable examples of Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, Fauvism, Cubism, and Surrealism by the era’s leading artists, including Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall, Camille Corot, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, and more.

The exhibition is organized thematically in four sections: Landscape, Still Life, Portraits and Figures, and The Nude. Beginning with the landscapes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and the birth of plein-air painting, it surveys the innovative styles and techniques developed by artists working in France, spanning 19th- and early 20th-century movements from the Realism of Gustave Courbet to the Surrealism of Yves Tanguy.

French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950 is organized by Lisa Small, Senior Curator of European Art, and Richard Aste, former Curator of European Art, Brooklyn Museum.

Exhibition Program Highlights:

Evening for Educators: French Moderns
Wednesday, October 2 | 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Educators from across the state are invited to visit the CMA for an evening of art, wine, and bites as they enjoy a private preview of new featured exhibition French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950. University of South Carolina French professor Alexandre Bonafos discusses this pivotal period of French (and world) history through the lens of art and literature. Educators are invited to explore the galleries, learn about new tours, and try out lesson plan materials focusing on the new exhibition. Attendees receive documentation for professional development renewal credit. Free for educators. Registration required as space is limited.

French Moderns Preview Party
Friday, October 4 | 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. | VIP access at 5:30 p.m.
Party-vous français? Celebrate some of the most beloved French artists in an evening where the conversation sparkles as much as the champagne, and be the first to experience this beautiful exhibition highlighting a century of creativity in Paris. Savor plein air and the open air of a lovely October evening with an enchanting garden party where nature bursts forth from the canvases and surrounds you beneath the stars. It’s a time to immerse yourself in the art that redefined an era.

Wear your favorite très chic cocktail attire to fête this remarkable exhibition before it opens to the public. Dance to the timeless music of Flat-Out Strangers and enjoy catering by City Grit. We hope that you’ll keep the party going well into the evening by enjoying the restaurants and nightlife of the city.

French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950 showcases over 50 works featuring key avant-garde movements including Impressionism, Cubism, and Surrealism by iconic artists such as Cézanne, Degas, Matisse, and Monet.

$100 / $75 for members (includes two drink tickets and a selection of appetizers). VIP: $150 / $125 for members (includes priority access at 5:30 p.m. and an open bar). Your ticket purchase not only grants you exclusive early access to this stunning exhibition but also supports the mission of the Columbia Museum of Art. Every contribution helps us continue to bring exceptional exhibitions to life and foster a vibrant arts community. Platinum Preview Party Sponsors: BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina; City Grit Catering. Silver Preview Party Sponsor: Joseph Bruce. Bronze Preview Party Sponsors: Allen and Gladys Coles.

Baker & Baker presents Modern Movements: Echoes of a Revolution
Tuesday, October 22 | Galleries and bar open at 5:00 p.m. | Concert 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Celebrate French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950 with a live vocal and chamber music performance inspired by the exhibition. Modern Movements showcases a range of French composers spanning the same period — Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, Nadia Boulanger, Francis Poulenc, and others — many of whom were closely associated with artists in the exhibition and part of the same currents circulating in French art and culture at the time. This special presentation features tenor Dominic Armstrong, cellist Claire Bryant, pianist Phillip Bush, mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway, pianist Lynn Kompass, and flutist Jennifer Parker-Harley. $28 / $18 for members.

French Moderns Curator Lecture
Sunday, October 27 | 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Join us for a celebration of French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950 as Lisa Small, senior curator of European art at the Brooklyn Museum and French Moderns co-curator, discusses the transformations in subject, style, and patronage that defined the key modern art movements emerging in and around 19th- and early 20th-century Paris. Free with membership or admission.

Lisa Small was appointed senior curator of European art in 2017 after joining the Brooklyn Museum in 2011 as curator of exhibitions. At the museum, she has curated or co-curated the exhibitions It’s Pablomatic: Picasso According to Hannah Gadsby (2023); Jacques-Louis David Meets Kehinde Wiley (2020); Rembrandt to Picasso: Five Centuries of European Works on Paper (2019); The Brooklyn Della Robbia (2018–present); Rodin: The Body in Bronze (2017); Killer Heels: The Art of the High-Heeled Shoe (2014); and the touring exhibition French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950 (2017–21, 2023–26). She served as a coordinating curator for Brooklyn’s presentations of Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving (2019), Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern (2017), The Rise of Sneaker Culture (2015), The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk (2013), and Jean-Michel Othoniel: My Way (2012). Small has also overseen numerous installations of the museum’s European art collection, including most recently Monet to Morisot: The Real and Imagined in European Art (2022–23). In previous curatorial positions at the American Federation of Arts and the Dahesh Museum, she organized exhibitions including Turner to Cézanne: Masterpieces from the Davies Collection; Gods and Heroes: Masterpieces from the École des Beaux-Arts; Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt; and Fantasy & Faith: The Art of Gustave Doré.
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French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850 – 1950 is presented through the support of our generous sponsors and grantors. Silver Sponsors: Mrs. Joyce Martin Hill; First Citizens Bank. Bronze Sponsors: Dr. Gail M. Morrison; Barbara B. Boyd; Patricia Beckler. Benefactors: Joseph Bruce; Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough; Dr. Suzanne R. Thorpe and Dr. John W. Baynes; Suzanne and Robert Clawson. Friends: Ginny Newell; John and Mary Kessler; Walda C. Wildman; Metro Wines Asheville; Linda and Michael Edwards; Margo Newton; Dr. and Mrs. Roger A. Blau; Dr. Caroline Greenberg and Dr. Stanley H. Greenberg; Eric McKenzie; Sarah and Albert Reed. Media Sponsors: Grace Outdoor and WXRY 99.3 FM. Grantors: City of Columbia; Experience Columbia SC; Richland County Government; South Carolina Arts Commission; Discover South Carolina.