: "Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet!" will feature the Bruyas Collection
from the Musee Fabre, Montpellier at the Virginia Museum of Fine
Arts, March 26-June 13.
Alfred Bruyas, who appears in one of the major paintings of the
Nineteenth Century ("The Meeting" or "Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet"
by Gustave Courbet), also earned a place in the history of French
art by adding then-contemporary art to the collection of the
Musee Fabre in his native city of Montpellier. This important
international exhibition will investigate his artistic
preferences, his friendships with renowned painters such as
Delacroix, Courbet, Millet, Tassaert and Rousseau, and his
determination to create a collection that would showcase the best
of French painting of his time.
In 1854, Bruyas invited Courbet to spend time in Montpellier,
where the artist painted his masterpiece, "The Meeting," in which
patron Bruyas is seen welcoming the artist to his town. The
painting is one of the treasures of the Musee Fabre and a key
work in any understanding of Nineteenth Century modernity.
Bruyas had an immense sense of mission and an obsession with his
own role as a patron of the arts. His collection is a fascinating
record of one of the most colorful collectors of Nineteenth
Century France. Seen as an ensemble, it reveals unexpected
dimensions of Bruyas's taste. Paintings by Courbet, Delacroix,
Cabanel, Millet and Fromentin are included, together with
animalier sculptures and watercolors by Barye and an exceptional
selection of drawings by artists such as Delacroix, Ingres, Huet
and Rousseau.
The exhibition has been made possible by FRAME (French Regional
and American Museums Exchange), a consortium of 18 French and
American art museums. In Virginia, the exhibition is supported in
part by the Julia Louise Reynolds Fund.
The show will travel to Sterling & Francine Clark Art
Institute, Williamstown, Mass. (June 27-September 6); Dallas
Museum of Art (October 17-January 2, 2005); Fine Arts Museum of
San Francisco (January 22-April 4, 2005).
The Virginia Museum of Art is at 2800 Grove Avenue. For
information, 804-340-1400 or www.vmfa.state.va.us.
