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Bonjour Monsieur Courbet!
11/8/2004 The Bruyas Collection from the Musée Fabre, Montpellier Extraordinary Collection of French Masterworks on Tour in America for First Time
22 January–3 April 2005, Legion of Honor
A distinguished collection of French paintings that has long drawn visitors to the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France, will be on view in San Francisco for the final showing of a four-venue American tour. Seventy works, including 40 paintings, 20 drawings, and 6 sculptures by such illustrious artists as Gustave Courbet, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Jean-François Millet, Alexandre Cabanel, and Antoine-Louis Barye, among others, illustrate a pivotal moment in the development of European art as reflected in the taste of collector Alfred Bruyas and as embodied in the work of the artists whom he admired.
The title of the exhibition is derived from its centerpiece, Courbet’s The Meeting or Bonjour Monsieur Courbet, of 1854. Among the most famous pictures in French art, it celebrates the relationship between Courbet and visionary patron Alfred Bruyas (1821–1877), who assembled the collection on view. One of France’s foremost collectors of contemporary art of his day, Bruyas gave his collection in two stages in 1868 and 1876 to the Musée Fabre. Remarkable in and of itself, this gift was also one of the first philanthropic gifts to a French museum. An exceptional collector in a provincial setting, Bruyas challenged the Parisian dominance of the art world in France by bringing then-contemporary works to Montpellier and in asserting the importance of his own vision and collection.
Bruyas’s tastes encompassed romanticism as well as realism. He collected art that drew upon the French Academy as well as works that were then considered avant-garde. His impulse to showcase the best of French painting in Montpellier resulted in friendships with many of the renowned artists of his day.
FRAME (French Regional American Museums Exchange)
Bonjour Monsieur Courbert!: The Bruyas Collection from the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, is on tour in America under the auspices of FRAME. An innovative, international consortium to date of 18 French and American museums that was established in 1999, FRAME is seen as an agent of cultural exchange, whether preparing traveling exhibitions or promoting understanding and lasting friendships between the respective museum communities. FRAME co-founder Elizabeth Rohatyn says, “Since its establishment, the French Regional American Museum Exchange has brought hundreds of works of art as well as museum staff, to 18 French and American towns and cities for the benefit of the cultural communities in both countries. Bonjour Monsieur Courbet! is the largest project yet mounted in the United States, involving practically the entire membership of FRAME in its planning and execution.”
Member institutions include The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Dallas Museum of Art; The Cleveland Museum of Art; Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Portland Art Museum; The Saint Louis Art Museum; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; Yale University Art Gallery; and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. The French museums are Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux; Musée Fabre; Musée de Grenoble; Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon; Musée d’art contemporain; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen; and Musées de Strasbourg.
Highights of the Exhibition
The exhibition features nine paintings by Courbet. Among them are The Bathers (1853), Bruyas’s first purchase of a work by the artist; his compelling Self-Portrait (Man with a Pipe) of 1846–47; The Sleeping Spinner (1853), and The Sea at Palavas (1854). Cabanel, whose conservative style reflected the tastes of the Academy, is represented in the exhibition by five paintings, including Albayd (1848); La Chiarucci (1848); and A Thinker, Young Roman Monk (1848). Among the eight paintings and drawings by Delacroix are the paintings Women of Algiers (in their Apartment) of (1849); Michelangelo in his Studio, c. 1850; and Moroccan Military Exercise (1832). Ingres is represented by the painting, Studies for “Jesus Among the Doctors” of 1862; and the thee works by Millet include the painting, Offering to a Pan, c. 1861, and his drawings, Well House at Gruchy, c. 1865 and Landscape in Allier. Three works by Rousseau include the drawings, Wooded Riverbank with a Large Isolated Tree, c. 1860; Marsh at Villebussière, Berri (1842); and an oil painting, The Pond, c. 1840. Also on view is Corot’s Fishing with Nets, Evening (1847).
In addition, there are nine images of Alfred Bruyas in the exhibition. These works by Cabanel, Courbet, Delacroix, Thomas Couture, Auguste-Barthélémy Glaize, Octave Tassert, and Edouard-Antoine Marsal provide a fascinating survey of the many aspects of a collector as seen through the eyes of the artists whom he befriended and supported.
Admission Fees
There is a $2 surcharge for the exhibition, payable at the door. Admission fees, including the surcharge, will be $10 for adults 18–64 years of age; $8 ages 65 and older; and $7 ages 12–17. Children under 12 years of age are admitted free. General admission is waived every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., thanks to Ford Motor Company; however the $2 special exhibition fee is still in effect. There is a $2 discount on paid admission upon presentation of a valid MUNI transfer or Fast Pass.
Credit
Bonjour Monsieur Courbet!: The Bruyas Collection from Montpellier has been organized by the Musée Fabre, Montpellier; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, with the Dallas Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, under the auspices of FRAME (French Regional and American Museum Exchange). This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The presentation in San Francisco is generously supported by the San Francisco Auxiliary of the Fine Arts Museums.
Catalogue
A catalogue with approximately 100 color plates and contributions by 15 French and American scholars accompanies the exhibition. Published by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. The 256-page volume is edited by Sarah Lees, Assistant Curator of Paintings, the Clark Institute. Hardcover $60; soft cover $35.
Venues
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia, 26 March–13 June 2004
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, 27 June–6 September 2004
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, 17 October 2004–2 January 2005
About the Legion of Honor
The Legion of Honor is located in San Francisco's Lincoln Park (34th Avenue and Clement Street). Its collections span 4000 years and include major holdings in Rodin sculpture; paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Watteau, de la Tour, Vigée Le Brun, Cézanne, Monet, and Picasso, among other Dutch, Italian, German, English, and French masters; a 15th-century Spanish ceiling, European decorative arts, tapestries, and over 70,000 prints and drawings. The museum is open from Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance fees are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors 65 and over, and $5 for children 12–17 (under 12 free). The Legion is free to the public every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., thanks to a generous grant from Ford Motor Company, which sponsors Ford Free Tuesdays. Information Hotline:
415-863-3330; website www.legionofhonor.org
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