From Goya’s 1810 portrait of the child José Costa y Bonells (died 1870), Called Pepito to Claude Monet at the height of Impressionism in the early 1900s, the 18 works displayed in ‘Revolution and Art for the People’ herald the emergence of the Modern era, when the radical notion of the creatively independent artist took hold. This final chapter in ‘European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’ together with ‘Devotion and Renaissance’ and ‘Absolutism and Enlightenment’, offered a breath-taking journey of European painting.
Two major tendencies informed painting from the mid-nineteenth century onwards: first, the depiction of everyday people; and second, a looser painterly style. Both approaches revolutionised art, reflecting the profound social upheaval caused by industrialisation, the fall of European monarchies and the rising bourgeois and proletariat classes.
Above all, artists sought to represent the power of individual experience, as they turned from religious, historical and classical subjects to examine the conditions of modern life. Impelled by a succession of revolts in France and the Revolution of 1848 that spread across Europe, Realist painters launched a critique upon the artistic establishment ― choosing to paint ordinary people rather than the idealised characters from history and myth.
Amid the newly established boulevards of 1870s Paris, a radical mode of painting emerged. The Impressionists were captivated by the effects of light and atmosphere and used broad, sketchy brushstrokes to depict an ever-changing natural world. A generation later, the post-Impressionists sought an even greater pictorial flatness, often inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and the advent of the camera.
LIST OF WORKS: Discover all the artworks
DELVE DEEPER: More about the artists and exhibition
THE STUDIO: Artworks come to life
WATCH: The Met Curators highlight their favourite works
List of works in ‘Revolution and Art for the People’
Joseph Mallord William Turner
England 1775–1851
Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute c.1835
Oil on canvas
91.4 x 122.2cm
Bequest of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1899 / 99.31
‘Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute’ c.1835
Alison Hokanson highlights Joseph Mallord William Turner’s Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute c.1835 and Claude Monet’s Water Lilies 1916–19
Gustave Courbet
France 1819–77
The Fishing Boat 1865
Oil on canvas
64.8 x 81.3cm
Gift of Mary Goldenberg, 1899 / 99.11.3
Gustave Courbet
The Young Bather 1866
Oil on canvas
130.2 x 97.2cm
HO Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs HO Havemeyer, 1929 / 29.100.124
Jean-Léon Gérôme
France 1824–1904
Pygmalion and Galatea c.1890
Oil on canvas
88.9 x 68.6cm
Gift of Louis C Raegner, 1927 / 27.200
Camille Corot
France 1796–1875
River with a Distant Tower 1865
Oil on canvas
54.6 x 78.4cm
Bequest of Robert Graham Dun, 1900 / 11.45.4
Honoré Daumier
France 1808–79
The Third-Class Carriage c.1862–64
Oil on canvas
65.4 x 90.2cm
HO Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs HO Havemeyer, 1929 / 29.100.129
‘The Third-Class Carriage’ c.1862–64
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)
Spain 1746–1828
José Costa y Bonells (died 1870), Called Pepito c.1810
Oil on canvas
105.1 x 84.5cm
Gift of Countess Bismarck, 1961 / 61.259
Édouard Manet
France 1832–83
Boy with a Sword 1861
Oil on canvas
131.1 x 93.4cm
Gift of Erwin Davis, 1889 / 89.21.2
Auguste Renoir
France 1841–1919
By the Seashore 1883
Oil on canvas
92.1 x 72.4cm
HO Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs HO Havemeyer, 1929 / 29.100.125
‘By the Seashore’ 1883
Auguste Renoir
A Young Girl with Daisies 1889
Oil on canvas
65.1 x 54cm
The Mr and Mrs Henry Ittleson Jr Purchase Fund, 1959 / 59.21
‘A Young Girl with Daisies’ 1889
Claude Monet
France 1840–1926
Jean Monet (1867–1914) on His Hobby Horse 1872
Oil on canvas
60.6 x 74.3cm
Gift of Sara Lee Corporation, 2000 / 2000.195
Edgar Degas
France 1834–1917
Dancers, Pink and Green c.1890
Oil on canvas
82.2 x 75.6cm
HO Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs HO Havemeyer, 1929 / 29.100.42
DELVE DEEPER: Edgar Degas: A dancer’s life
‘Dancers, Pink and Green’ c.1890
Paul Gauguin
France 1848–1903
Tahitian Landscape 1892
Oil on canvas
64.5 x 47.3cm
Anonymous Gift, 1939 / 39.182
Vincent van Gogh
The Netherlands 1853–90
The Flowering Orchard 1888
Oil on canvas
72.4 x 53.3cm
The Mr and Mrs Henry Ittleson Jr Purchase Fund, 1956 / 56.13
‘The Flowering Orchard’ 1888
Paul Cézanne
France 1839–1906
Gardanne 1885–86
Oil on canvas
80 x 64.1cm
Gift of Dr and Mrs Franz H Hirschland, 1957 / 57.181
‘Gardanne’ 1885–86
Paul Cézanne
Still Life with Apples and Pears c.1891–92
Oil on canvas
44.8 x 58.7cm
Bequest of Stephen C Clark, 1960 / 61.101.3
‘Still Life with Apples and Pears’ c.1891–92
Alfred Sisley
England 1839–99
The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne 1872
Oil on canvas
49.5 x 65.4cm
Gift of Mr and Mrs Henry Ittleson Jr, 1964 / 64.287
Claude Monet
France 1840–1926
Water Lilies 1916–19
Oil on canvas
130.2 x 200.7cm
Gift of Louise Reinhardt Smith, 1983 / 1983.532
‘Water Lilies’ 1916–19
Alison Hokanson highlights Joseph Mallord William Turner’s Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute c.1835 and Claude Monet’s Water Lilies 1916–19
This Australian-exclusive exhibition was at the Gallery of Modern Art from 12 June until 17 October 2021 and organised by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and Art Exhibitions Australia.
The order of artworks in ‘Revolution and Art for the People’ by Katharine Baetjer, Curator Emerita, Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
All works are Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Dimensions are given in centimetres (cm), height preceding width.
Featured image detail: Paul Cézanne Still Life with Apples and Pears c.1891–92
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