(Photo: Thekohser/Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Drawing on what is considered one of the greatest Post-Impressionist and early modern art collections in the world, Barnes Foundation educator Penny Hansen guides a series of virtual tours that examine in depth the paintings of eight artists who helped shape a truly revolutionary period in the history of art.
Using high-definition Deep Zoom technology developed by the Barnes, she leads participants through the Philadelphia museum’s galleries and provides remarkably close-up views of the canvases, revealing their paint surface, brushstrokes, and details in ways that bring the art and the artist vividly to life. All programs provide the chance to interact with Hansen in a Q&A session.
January 23 Cézanne
The Barnes Foundation holds the world’s largest collection of works by Paul Cézanne, some 69 pieces including his masterworks The Large Bathers and The Card Players. Picasso spoke for a generation in declaring, “Cézanne is the father of us all: Without Cézanne there would be no modern art.” Hansen explores Cézanne’s career, his reclusive life, his style, his characteristic brushstrokes, and his deep influence on 20th-century art.
January 30 Matisse
Henri Matisse is considered a cornerstone of 20th-century modernism. He developed a monumental approach to decorative art, innovative in his treatment of the human figure and the expressive and constructive role he accorded to color. The Barnes holds 59 of his works, representing pieces from throughout his long career. They include his fauvist masterpiece of 1906, Le Bonheur de Vivre, and The Dance, a huge work commissioned by collector Albert Barnes in 1930 that spans the length of the main gallery of the foundation.
February 6 Renoir
Albert Barnes amassed 181 works by Pierre-August Renoir—the world’s largest collection. Renoir was a founding member of the Impressionist movement in the early 1870s, and good friends with Monet, Manet, Cézanne, and Degas. In close-up views of his paintings on the walls of the Barnes Foundation, Hansen examines his stylistic changes over the years, as well as Barnes’ great affinity for Renoir, especially for his late works.
February 13 Modigliani and Soutine
The Barnes holds important works by Amedeo Modigliani and Chaim Soutine, two modern masters whose friendship and time together in Paris left a lasting mark on 20th-century art. Modigliani is known for his elegant, elongated portraits that convey both intimacy and timelessness, while Soutine’s expressive brushwork and vibrant colors captured raw emotion and intensity. Hansen explores their contrasting yet complementary approaches, their shared struggles as émigré artists, and their lasting impact on modern painting.
February 20 Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Seurat
Few artists embody the daring experimentation of the late 19th century more than Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Georges Seurat. The Barnes collection highlights the radical ways in which each artist redefined color, line, and form: van Gogh with his impassioned, dynamic brushstrokes; Gauguin with his bold symbolism and visions of the exotic; and Seurat with his scientific precision and pointillist technique. Hansen traces their innovative paths, their influence on one another, and their role in reshaping the trajectory of modern art.
5 sessions
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