Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France

Mary Cassatt, Autumn, Portrait of Lydia Cassatt, 1880, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. Photo: Agence Bulloz. © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY.

Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France features more than 100 paintings made between 1855 and 1913 in the first comprehensive examination of France’s stylistic impact on American painting of the period. The exhibition reveals both the visual and conceptual influences of France on American painters in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, rrom academic training in Paris to exploration of rural landscapes. It features seven sections, opening with a dramatic gallery reminiscent of the Paris Salon, an annual showcase of artworks that determined the success of an artist’s career. Subsequent galleries highlight a wide spectrum of artistic styles championed by American artists, including classicism, realism, tonalism, impressionism and hybrids of each—that were honed from lessons by Paris’ private ateliers, official enrollment in École des BeauxArts, and summer months spent at artist colonies throughout Normandy and Brittany.

The significant artistic contributions of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt also take the stage in the exhibition's narrative. These artists were known to be part of the first wave of Americans to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Europe, and to Paris—then considered the center of the art world. Each contributed to the rich complexity of American painting, which was in close dialogue with their French contemporaries during this period.

Following its presentation at DAM, the exhibition will travel to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 2022, April 16 to July 31.