Impressionism exhibition opening at the FIA

FLINT -- “Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism” makes it’s only Midwest stop at the Flint Institute of Arts Feb. 6-April 18.

The exhibition includes many of the finest examples of midnineteenth and early twentieth century French and American landscapes from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum. The 38 paintings presented include works by such leading French artists as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Gustave Courbet and their most significant American followers including Frederick Childe Hassam and John Singer Sargent.

The exhibition offers the viewer a broad survey of works by leaders of the impressionist painting movement which developed in France following the French Revolution. These artists rejected the constraints of the French Academy and its emphasis on the aristocracy and took their painting out of doors (plein-air) seeking their inspiration from nature and scenes of everyday life. They also embraced a new style of painting characterized by brilliant colors and lively, broken brushwork to better capture the effects of light and reflection.

As a compliment to the “Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism,” the FIA has assembled an exhibition of its own Impressionist and Post- Impressionist European and American paintings from the permanent collection. Included in this exhibit are works by: Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, Pierre Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Corot, Lucien Pissarro and Edouard Vuillard. In addition to the works in the FIA’s collection, the exhibition will include loans of important works from the Toledo Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Together the two exhibitions create a survey of the development of Impressionism and the styles that evolved out of Impressionism both in Europe and the United States.

FIA hours are noon-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday, noon-9 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.- 5and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission to special exhibitions is $7 for adults, free for members and children under 12 and $5 for seniors and students. All Saturdays are Target Free. Details: Call 810-234-1695 or www.flintarts.org. -- Natalie Blythe