Inspiring Impressionism Opens At Denver Museum

Northern Trust is the National Tour Sponsor of Inspiring Impressionism.

Masterpieces by artists including Manet, Degas, Monet, and Renoir will be exhibited alongside works by Raphael, Titian, El Greco, and Velázquez, exploring the European Old Masters' influence on 19th-century Impressionism.

"This is the first exhibition to focus specifically on the important relationship between the Impressionists and Old Masters," said Timothy J. Standring, Gates Foundation Curator of Painting and Sculpture. Although the Impressionist painters are known for creating an innovative new style, much in their technique and composition echoes the work of their predecessors.

Exhibition highlights include traditional landscapes, still lifes and portraits by Old Masters such as Claude Lorrain, Jean-Siméon Chardin, and Frans Hals that are paired with Impressionist works. Pairings, such as Mary Cassatt's Mrs. Duffee Seated on a Striped Sofa, Reading (1876) and Jean Honoré Fragonard's Reader (1776) will explore connections through use of similar artistic technique, composition, and subject matter.

Color as Field: American Painting, 1950-1975, is in its final days. The exhibition of approximately 40 expansive canvases washed with flat areas of luminous color will end on Sunday, February 3. The exhibition provides a visual feast of color in addition to offering insight into a high point of American abstract painting. Important works by Color Field pioneers such as Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski and Larry Poons are featured alongside works from the Abstract Expressionist generation, including paintings by Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still. Organized by the American Federation of Arts and debuted at the Denver Art Museum, this is the largest exhibition of major color field works ever exhibited in the region.

Celebrate Black History Month at the Denver Art Museum at the "Urban Poetics Poetry Slam" on Friday, February 15. Visitors can participate in this dynamic display of word-art in action, produced in conjunction with Podslam.org and Café Nuba, Denver's premier spokenword event. "Urban Poetics" will feature 16 of the top competitive poets in the United States and showcase live music from Grammy Award-winning artists Les Nubians with Queen Godis and DJ Moni. The all-age event will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Denver Art Museum's North Building, Ponti Hall. $15 admission includes entry to the Museum and the slam event. -- www.denverartmuseum.org