Guest Review: Birth of Impressionism at the de Young Museum in San Francisco

Frédéric Bazille Family Reunion. 1867. Oil on canvas. 152 cm x 230 cm. ©RMN, Musée d’Orsay.

The Birth of Impressionism exhibition currently showing at the de Young Museum in San Francisco is a big deal. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. Make sure you visit the show this summer, or you may miss out on the most important show this museum has hosted since reopening its doors in 2005.

Nearly 100 Impressionist works of art been sent to the de Young from the Musee d’Orsay, which is benefitting from a renovation. And these are paintings that will not disappoint. With artwork by Degas, Manet, Monet and Renoir, just to name a few, how can one be unfulfilled after a visit? The most difficult question this exhibition raises is deciding when to return for a second or third viewing.

As you enter the galleries, you can feel the importance of the artwork surrounding you. The paintings are displayed in a manner similar to how they will be once the renovation at the d’Orsay is complete. Wooden floors and carefully chosen wall colors allow the paintings to really pop and express themselves. Think of this when you come to The Floor Scrapers by Gustave Caillebotte. The browns and whites on the canvas appear so rich they practically glisten.

What did surprise me about this show was the piece I left still thinking about. While it was very exciting to see Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother (a.k.a Whistler’s Mother) by James McNeill Whistler, and Rue Montorgueil, Paris. Festival of June 30, 1878 by Claude Monet, in person, they weren’t new discoveries, as I had seen reproductions many times before. The painting I am still thinking about, and will return to see is the Family Reunion by Frédéric Bazille. Dying a tragic early death during the Franco-Prussian War, Bazille is known for painting en plein air, and this is the first opportunity I had to see one of his paintings in person. I was struck by the direct awkwardness of this painting. In it, you can see an artist who is still struggling to find his style, and unfortunately never had the chance to. I wanted to stare at this piece all day.

If you need any reason to visit San Francisco this summer, the Birth of Impressionism is it. As an encore, there will be a second exhibition from the d’Orsay in the fall, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond. The de Young had the distinction of being the only museum in North America to host this upcoming show, and the only museum in the world to host both of these traveling exhibitions from the d’Orsay.

Ashley Harrop is an Art Historian living in San Francisco and produces the No Onions Extra Pickles travel blog.

Gustave Caillebotte Les raboteurs de parquet (The Floor Scrappers). 1875. Oil on canvas. 102 cm x 146.5 cm. ©RMN, Musée d’Orsay.

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