Opening at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in spring 2025, The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art explores the fascinating story of Impressionism from its birth in 1874 to its legacy in the early 20th century. This exhibition reveals the rebellious origins of the independent artist collective known as the Impressionists and the revolutionary course they charted for modern art.
Breaking with tradition in both how and what they painted, as well as how they showed their work, the Impressionists redefined what constituted cutting-edge contemporary art. Core members such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot introduced unique innovations and set the foundation against which following generations of avant-garde artists, from Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh to Piet Mondrian and Henri Matisse, reacted.
Opening at VMFA one year after the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition, The Impressionist Revolution invites you to travel back in time to Belle Époque France. Experience wondrous Impressionist works firsthand and marvel at the resounding impact made by these beloved artists, once considered scandalous revolutionaries.
The exhibition is curated by Dr. Nicole R. Myers, Chief Curatorial and Research Officer and The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Senior Curator of European Art, Dallas Museum of Art. Dr. Sylvain Cordier, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art, and Dr. Theresa A. Cunningham, Assistant Curator of European Art and the Mellon Collections, are the coordinating curators for VMFA’s presentation of the exhibition.
The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art.
ABOVE Apple Harvest, 1888. Camille Pissarro. Oil on canvas. Dallas Museum of Art, Munger Fund, 1955.17.M
TOP OF PAGE Valle Buona, Near Bordighera, 1884. Claude Monet. Oil on canvas. Dallas Museum of Art, gift of the Meadows Foundation, Incorporated, 1981.127