"Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting"
2003-03-05 until 2003-06-08
Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, NY, USA

The first major exhibition ever to examine the impact of 17th-century Spanish painting on 19th-century French artists will feature nearly 240 paintings and works on paper spanning several centuries of European art at the most astounding levels of achievement. On view will be some 130 paintings by Velázquez, Murillo, Ribera, El Greco, Zurbarán, and other masters of Spain's Golden Age as well as masterpieces by the 19th-century French artists they influenced, among them Delacroix, Courbet, Millet, Degas, and, most notably, Manet. On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from March 4 through June 8, 2003, Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting will also include works by American artists such as Sargent, Chase, Eakins, Whistler, and Cassatt, who studied in France but learned to paint like Spaniards.

As the title indicates, at the core of the exhibition will be the "Spanish" work of Edouard Manet, whose career thoroughly reveals the importance of Spanish painting by the middle of the 19th century. Manet/Velázquez will feature more paintings by Manet (more than 30) and Velázquez (14 autograph or attributed) than any American exhibitions since their eponymous retrospectives at the Metropolitan Museum more than a decade ago.

Accenture is the proud sponsor of the exhibition.

The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Musée d'Orsay.

An indemnity has been granted by the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Philippe de Montebello commented: "The Metropolitan Museum is privileged to present this truly important exhibition, which brings together masterpieces from the artistic capitals of Europe and America to highlight two distinct periods of extraordinary creative efflorescence. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting promises to be a revelatory exhibition, spanning these centuries of artistic excellence and illustrating the transfer and exchange of ideas from one culture to another. In addition to its profound scholarly contribution to our understanding of the history of Western painting, the exhibition will stand as a breathtaking survey of Spanish, French, and American painting – each at their highest level of aesthetic refinement."

Mr. de Montebello continued: "We at the Metropolitan are equally delighted to welcome Accenture to this project, and we are most gratified by their pledge of both financial and technological support for the exhibition and its innovative feature on the Museum's Web site. With Accenture's generous support, this rich artistic legacy will reach an ever widening audience who may first encounter these surpassing works of art either with a visit to the galleries or over the Internet."

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of New York

Other Important Exhibitions in New York