Manet: Portraying Life Opens Oct. 7 at TMA
Tickets to see the Toledo Museum of Art’s exclusive U.S. showing of Manet: Portraying Life will be available for purchase online starting Sept. 1 at manet.toledomuseum.org.
Opening to the public on Oct. 7, the exhibition spotlights the portraiture of French artist Édouard Manet, often called the “father of modern art.”
Co-organized by TMA and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, the exhibition brings together 40 portraits by Manet on loan from museums in Europe, North America and Japan as well as numerous photographs.
Manet painted his family, friends and literary, political and artistic figures of his day, often in casual settings rather than traditionally posed portraits. His subjects come to life on canvas, making the viewer curious to know more about these people and their lives.
The exhibition will be on view in Toledo through New Year’s Day (Jan. 1, 2013), and then go to the Royal Academy of Arts for exhibition Jan. 26–April 14, 2013.
A contemporary of the Impressionists, Manet (1832–1883) was the most stylish of the 19th–century French painters and a major recorder of Parisian life at that time. This exhibition is the first to focus exclusively on his considerable talents as a portraitist. Among the paintings are Lady with a Fan (Jeanne Duval), 1862, on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest; The Railway, 1872–73, from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; The Monet Family in their Garden at Argenteuil, 1874, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; and Émile Zola, 1868, from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
“Born in the same decade that brought us photography, Manet was simply a great portrait painter,” said Toledo Museum of Art Director Brian Kennedy. “His treatment of color and his portrayal of everyday subjects greatly inspired the Impressionist artists, so much so that Manet is often called the father of modernist painting. Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet and Edgar Degas all were influenced by Manet, and he by them.”
Lawrence W. Nichols, William Hutton senior curator, European and American painting and sculpture before 1900 at TMA, and MaryAnne Stevens, exhibition curator at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, collaborated on organizing Manet: Portraying Life after each learned the other was planning a Manet show.
“The Museum and the Royal Academy expect widespread interest in Manet because the artist is one of the greatest Western European painters,” Nichols said. “Central to understanding his work is an examination of his portraits. This exhibition is the first to examine Manet’s work in this way.”
“An exhibition of this importance and magnitude would not be possible for us without the support of our major U.S. sponsors and co-presenters, Block Communications Inc. and BP,” Kennedy noted.
A printed, full-color companion book and other exhibition-related items will be available for purchase through the Museum Store and its website.
TMA members receive unlimited free admission to the exhibition. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for seniors (ages 65 and older) and students (ages 6 to 22). Admission is free for children 5 and under with a paid adult admission. There is a $1 handling fee for tickets purchased online. An audio tour is available for an additional $3.
In addition to major support from BCI and BP, Manet: Portraying Life is made possible by TMA members and supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council’s sustainability grant program, funded by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Health Care REIT is underwriting tours for school groups. Brooks Insurance is underwriting the audio tour and teen tour guide.
Manet Exhibition-Related Programming
Members Preview Weekend
Oct. 5: 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Oct. 6: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Exhibition tickets are free for Toledo Museum of Art members, who are invited to preview Manet: Portraying Life on Oct. 5–6 before it opens to the general public. Members also are invited to stop by the Green Room those days for refreshments and hands-on activities. Membership card needed for entry.
FREE Members-only Tours During Preview Weekend
Oct. 5: 11 a.m., 2 and 7 p.m., Canaday Gallery
Oct. 6: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Canaday Gallery
Exhibition tickets required.
FREE Presentations
Masters Series Presentation: Gary Tinterow
Oct. 11: 6 p.m., Peristyle
Gary Tinterow, the new director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and 28-year veteran of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, will discuss Édouard Manet’s fondness for Spanish art and for the artist Diego Velázquez in particular. An internationally recognized scholar, Tinterow served as curator of European paintings at the Met before becoming curator in charge of the newly formed department of 19th Century, Modern and Contemporary Art in 2004 and chair of that department in 2008. He has organized dozens of acclaimed exhibitions and has more than 60 major catalogues and other publications to his credit. A Houston native, Tinterow graduated from Brandeis University and received a graduate degree in fine art from Harvard University. The free presentation begins at 6 p.m. The Museum will be open to the public until 6 p.m. Manet: Portraying Life will be open to presentation attendees with exhibition tickets until 10 p.m. that evening.
Manet’s Paris
Oct. 26: 7:30 p.m., Little Theater
Art historian Richard Putney of the University of Toledo presents an illustrated lecture devoted to Paris in the time of Manet, an era that underwent artistic, political, social, and physical transformation.
FREE Public Tours
Join a Museum Docent-led free tour for a closer look at Manet: Portraying Life. All ages are welcome. Meet in the Canady Gallery a few minutes prior to tour time. Exhibition tickets are required.
Oct.7, Oct. 13, Oct. 21, Oct. 27, Nov. 4, Nov. 10, Nov. 18, Nov. 24, Dec. 2, Dec. 8 and Dec. 22: 2 p.m., Canaday Gallery.
Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 18 at 2 p.m., tours led by Lawrence W. Nichols, senior curator, European and American painting and sculpture before 1900, who organized the exhibition, Canaday Gallery.
Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 16, Nov. 23, Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec. 21: 7 p.m., Canaday Gallery
FREE Gallery Talks
A New Look: The Contemporary Portrait
Oct 12: 7 p.m., Meet in Libbey Court
Amy Gilman, associate director of TMA and curator of contemporary art, focuses on several of the portraits in the contemporary collection, including but not limited to the Paul Cadmus portrait of artist Jared French and Chuck Close’s image of painter Alex Katz.
Symbolic Portraits: The Coat of Arms
Oct. 14: 2 p.m., Meet in Libbey Court
The coat of arms was first used in the 12th century on battlefields to help differentiate friend from foe. In the following centuries its use changed, becoming a symbol unique to a family or individual. Explore the many examples in the Museum's collection and learn the story of what the coat of arms tells us with Ed Hill, works on paper assistant.
I Don't Look Like That! Portraits in the TMA Old Master Collection
Nov. 9: 7 p.m., Meet in Libbey Court
In this autumn season of portraiture at TMA, join Lawrence W. Nichols, William Hutton senior curator, European and American painting and sculpture before 1900, for a gallery tour of some of the standouts among the Museum's Old Master portraits from the Renaissance through the 19th century. The omnipresent dynamic of artist-patron-sitter interaction will be considered.
You Are What You Wear: Fashion in Portraits
Nov. 11: 2 p.m., Meet in Libbey Court
Whether or not clothes make the man (or the woman), what you wear can certainly impact how you're viewed by the world. Explore how artists and patrons have used fashion to communicate meaning in portraits throughout history with Paula Reich, curatorial projects and publications manager.
Permanent Likeness? Portraits in Glass, with Jutta Page, curator of glass and decorative arts
Dec. 14: 7 p.m., Meet in Glass Pavilion
Portraits in Prints and Prose, with Tom Loeffler, assistant curator of works on paper
Dec. 16: 2 p.m., Meet at Matisse mural
FREE Film Series: Manet’s Paris
Gervaise
Oct. 12: 8 p.m., Little Theater
Witness the passions and tragedies of friends, contemporaries and subjects of Édouard Manet in19th–century Paris. Based on the novel L'Assommoir by Émile Zola, Gervaise chronicles the struggles of a laundry girl determined to improve her lot through hard work and sheer force of will, despite an opportunistic lover who callously deserts her and a husband whose kindness curdles into disappointment, jealousy and alcoholism. Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost, the foremost screenwriters of the classic French cinema's "tradition of quality," shrewdly condensed Zola's sprawling epic of working-class life into a focused dramatic character study. Director René Clément incorporates sensuous details that vividly evoke the teeming urban reality of mid-19th-century Paris. (1956, 114 minutes, French with English subtitles)
Édouard Manet, A Disturbing Strangeness
Oct 19: 8 p.m., Little Theater
Who was Édouard Manet? This exuberant film documents the world that made him and the world of art he made. (2011, Hopi Lebel, 52 minutes, French with English subtitles)
Madame Bovary
Nov. 9: 8 p.m., Little Theater
The extraordinary novel by Gustave Flaubert is brought to the screen with Jennifer Jones in the title role. As sensual and provocative Madame Bovary, she explores the range of emotions from flights of fantasy to sudden and imperious gratification of her love-whims. (1949, Vincente Minnelli, 115 minutes)
Nana
Dec. 14: 8 p.m., Little Theater
A Parisian coquette is romantically pursued by two brothers while reigning as the toast of Paris nightlife in this film. Rich with period details of the late 1800s, Nana, based on Émile Zola’s famed novel, pulses with tragic emotionalism. (1934, Dorothy Arzner, 87 minutes)
FREE Performances
A Tribute to France Through Song
Oct. 26: 7 p.m., Great Gallery
Children from Alliance Française perform French songs.
Portraiture in Song
Nov. 18: 3 p.m., Great Gallery
Soprano Joan Layne and pianist Kevin Bylsma, along with the Toledo Opera and the Masterworks Chorale, sing of ordinary Parisians depicted in cafes, public places and intimate spaces, and Hollywood stars in studio glamour shots.
Great Performances in the Great Gallery
Dec. 16: 3 p.m., Great Gallery
Tenor Erik Johanson and violinist Cecilia Johnson perform popular vocal music from the time of Manet's later life as well as string chamber music.
FREE Family Center Activities
Manet All the Way!
Create your own self portrait using chalk pastels.
Oct. 7: Noon to 5:30 p.m.
Oct. 9 and 11: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Oct. 12: 3:30–8 p.m.
See–Through Portraits!
Make a see-through portrait using transparencies and collage material.
Nov. 4: Noon to 5:30 p.m.
Nov. 6 and 8: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Nov. 9: 3:30–8 p.m.
Manet’s Hats!
Manet painted many portraits of people wearing hats. Make your own paper hat to wear as you stroll through the exhibition.
Nov. 18: Noon to 5:30 p.m.
Nov. 20: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Nov. 23: 3:30–8 p.m.
Manet Family and Friends!
Manet painted portraits of many of his family and friends. Draw a portrait of your friends and family using oil pastels.
Nov. 25: Noon to 5:30 p.m.
Nov. 27 and 29: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Nov. 30: 3:30–8 p.m.
Other FREE Activities
Meet Me at TMA: Manet: Portraying Life
Nov. 3: 1:30 p.m.
Part of a monthly free series for those with mild memory loss and their companions, this tour introduces participants to portraits and street scenes in Paris by celebrated artist Édouard Manet (1832–1883). Reservations are recommended but not required. Call the Alzheimer’s Association, Northwest Ohio Chapter at 419-537-1999 or 1-800-272-3900.
Caricature Drawing
Nov. 30: 7–9 p.m.
How do you see yourself? Let Jim Beard show you how your portrait might differ from those by Manet.
Press Release Contact Name: Terri Sharp
Press Release Contact Email: [email protected]
Organization Name: Toledo Museum of Art
Organization Address: Toledo, OH