From Monet to Picasso: a very private collection in Houston

The autumn will be resolutely French at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (MFA), with no less than two exhibitions dedicated to the French avant-garde from the late nineteenth and early twentieth, until January 12.

The first, "Monet to Picasso": A very Private Collection, presents a collection never unveiled in its entirety, belonging to a couple of anonymous patrons of the greatest Impressionists and post-Impressionists. The second, Berthe Morisot: Impressionist Original, is entirely dedicated to Berthe Morisot, impressionist painter. She was at the origin of the movement, with the 7 other painters the first impressionist exhibition, at the time when the word was still written in quotation marks. But because she was a woman, she was one of the great forgotten in the history of art, rediscovered only recently.

The other exhibition of this French autumn of the MFA also part of the impressionism, but goes much further. It traces the evolution of modernism from Impressionism until the beginning of the 20th century and ends with three great works of Picasso, the last of which dates from the mid-fifties. It is an exploration through Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Pointillism and Cubism.

Almost all the great movements and great artists of the time are represented. Monet's "Afternoon in the Sun" (1889) echoes the paintings of Paul Cézanne and Vincent Van Gogh who still masters the art of perspective (The Roofs in 1882, The King's Robin). Canvases by Vlaminck and Paul Signac show a more intense and vibrant painting especially in the "Dancer of the Dead Rat". Finally, the paintings of Cubist Juan Gris and Fernand Léger, entitled "Deux Profils" captivate and seduce by their style and simple geometric shapes. That of the imaginative Georges Braque deconstructs the forms and breaks with the realistic painting developed during the Renaissance. The last gallery also features works by Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse (Les Citrons) and Renoir where abstraction is gradually emerging. Many of these works have never been seen before. An incredible and real discovery for art lovers.