Christie’s Impressionism: 150 Years

 Christie’s presents Impressionism: 150 Years opening in London, New York, and online on Wednesday, 5 June 2024. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the First Impressionist Exhibition held in Paris in 1874, this selling exhibition from Christie’s Private Sales consists of paintings and drawings at varying price points available for immediate purchase. The selection of offerings speaks to the breadth of the Impressionist movement, its origins, and its enduring legacy, featuring highlights by Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, among others.

In London, the exhibition will showcase Claude Monet’s magnificent view of 

Les Saules, Giverny (The Willows at Giverny) painted in 1889. This is one of two canvases depicting the beautiful and calm vista near Monet’s home, the landscape surrounding which was the artist’s enduring muse from 1883 until his death in 1926. The work in an example of Monet’s mastery of en plein air painting, a technique which he pioneered with fellow Impressionist artists over the course of the 1870s and 1880s.

Another highlight of the London exhibition is 

Paul Gauguin's Vue de Rouen, dating from the late stages of the official Impressionist movement in the mid-1880s. Executed in a daring palette of lime green, cobalt blue and orange, the painting reveals the Impressionist’s pioneering use of pure colour and points to the bright hues that would dominate Gaugin’s depictions of Tahiti in the 1890s.

Highlighting the New York exhibition in Rockefeller Center is a work by

 

Alfred Sisley, Route de l’Abreuvoir en hiver, Marly-le-Roi. Painted in 1875, this early snowscape by the artist has not been offered at a public sale for over a century so is fresh to the market. The artist painted six pictures of Marly-le-Roi in the winter of 1874-75, two of which can be found in the permanent collections of the Musée d’Orsay and London’s National Gallery.

An additional highlight on view in the New York exhibition is 

Portrait de fillette sur fond bleu by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. This exemplary work by the French master showcases his talent for portraiture, particularly with children, demonstrating the effortlessness with which he uniquely captured their youthful nature.

The exhibition will be open in Christie’s London from 5 - 26 June, in Christie’s New York 5 - 28 June, and is viewable online from 5 June - 31 July.