Special Exhibition Gallery: The Met's French Masterpieces

The full title of this very special special exhibition, at least in its U.S. incarnation, is The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1800-1920. You're not likely to see these together again (outside of The Met) after they finish traveling to to The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (February 4-May 6, 2007) and the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (May 30-October 7, 2007) while their home galleries are being renovated so, please, make it a point to view all 135 works if you have the opportunity.

Our gallery here consists of highlights from the show, whose captions were shot off to me by Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, Stan Parchin. The techy, me end - well, that was less interesting than making sure the captions were complete (as we make a point of doing, here). My one visible contribution: the image you see here. As it was my choice, I selected an image whose reproduction (surely one of millions) hung in my childhood home as far back as memory serves. Too young to know the words "Pissarro" or "Impressionism," I recall staring at this ca. 1962 - fascinated by the fact that there were no lines, just little daubs of color set side by side. It wasn't a thing - nothing! - like the pictures in my Little Golden Books, and my brain worked feverishly to figure out how whoever did that did that. Parents and caregivers, bless you for making art available to the small ones. You just never know what will grab a formative mind and stick.

(Thanks, Mom.)

Image credit:

Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903)
The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning, 1897
Oil on canvas
25 1/2 x 32 in. (64.8 x 81.3 cm)
Gift of Katrin S. Vietor, in loving memory
of Ernest G. Vietor, 1960
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art