A portrait of Nina Lopez – one of Renoir’s favourite professional models – has been chosen to represent the Holburne Museum’s new Spring and early Summer exhibition.
Not only does it appear on exterior banners and show publicity and literature but some of the colours used to paint it have been adopted as background hues to set off the works. A bit of help here from Farrow and Ball.
‘A Young Woman Seated’ was originally known as La Pensee or Thought. It was painted at the time of the second and third impressionist exhibitions in 1876 and 1877 to which Renoir was a major contributor.
It’s one of the 28 masterpieces from British public collections brought together to celebrate the Impressionists’ observation of humanity in an exhibition entitled ‘Impressionism Capturing Life.’
The show centres on figurative paintings by some of the artists that exhibited at the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874, including Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. Significant loans from, among others, Tate, The National Gallery, London and The Scottish National Gallery feature alongside the Holburne’s works on paper by the important but often overlooked British Impressionist Sir George Clausen, founder-member of the New English Art Club
It’s been curated by the Bath-based museum’s Director, Jennifer Scott, and l caught up with her while she was taking some of the Holburne’s 300 volunteers helpers on a tour of the exhibition.
She’s pleased and excited to let the public see what has been brought together in this show.
Ticket price includes complimentary audio guide voiced over by Jennifer Scott and eminent artist Stephen Farthing. Young people aged 16 and under get in free! There are concessions for Discovery Card holders.
The exhibition runs from February 13, 2016 – June 5, 2016 all-day. Tickets
£10/ £9 (£8.50/ £7.50 without voluntary contribution)
For more information on all exhibitions http://www.holburne.org
