NMA NEWS — The Nevada Museum of Art is the inaugural stop on the international tour of the exhibition Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne: Paris 1880-1910. On view through January 19, 2014, the exhibition celebrates the broad spectrum of avant-garde artists at the center of the Parisian artistic and cultural scene at the turn of the last century. Featuring more than 185 objects, the artworks in Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne range from paintings, watercolors, and drawings, to rare cabaret shadow puppets, illustrated theater programs, and other ephemera from Parisian theaters, circuses, and concerts.
The art of Toulouse-Lautrec epitomizes — in subject, style, and the use of new technology — many of the “modern” tendencies in French art at the turn of the nineteenth century. With his art as a central focus, Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne is the first exhibition to present a kaleidoscopic view of the work of a generation of artists who continued the battle for artistic liberation from Academic standards fought by the Impressionists and by artists such as Seurat, Gauguin and van Gogh.
“Paris was the center of creative activity at the turn of the 19th century,” commented Amy Oppio, Deputy Director | COO, Nevada Museum of Art. “In this exhibition, the infamous Henri Toulouse-Lautrec is featured alongside others such as Mary Cassat, Paul Heleu, Juan Gris, and Pierre Bonnard. Museum visitors will certainly enjoy exploring the nightlife of cabaret theaters, elaborate circus performances, and intimate café concerts that helped to define Paris as an iconic modern city.”
Drawn from prestigious private collections, the artworks in this exhibition were made by a generation of artists who battled against the formality of Academic art standards. Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne puts the innovative art of some bett
er-known artists into context, revealing that they did not work in isolation. Paris was a breeding ground for artistic and literary movements which challenged the establishment and sought to come to terms with a complex society no longer easily definable.
Join the Museum for a series of programs and events celebrating life and times in turn-of-the-century Paris:
PREMIERE LECTURE: Phillip Dennis Cate on Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne
Thursday November 14 / 6 – 8 pm
Phillip Dennis Cate, curator of Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne, and editor of accompanying catalogue, explores the too-short life and revolutionary work of legendary artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. $12 / $8 Museum members
FILM Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Sunday, December 8 / 3pm
Take an armchair tour of Toulouse-Lautrec’s nineteenth-century Paris on the Museum’s Big Screen, brought to life through Baz Lurhmann’s 2001 modern classic Moulin Rouge! $7 / $5 Museum members
ART BITE Jodie Barker on Fin de Siècle Paris
Friday, December 13 / noon
Learn about the variety of forces affecting life in end-of-the-century Paris: the cultural and artistic avant-garde, the rise of cosmopolitanism, and changing understandings of the role of artists in the life of the city. $10 / Free Museum members
Moulin Rouge (1952)
Sunday, December 15 / 3pm
Think Baz Lurhmann’s is the only Moulin Rouge? Try this underappreciated color-soaked tale of Toulouse-Lautrec, starring José Ferrer and Zsa Zsa Gabor. $7 / $5 Museum members
French Cancan (1954)
Sunday, January 5 / 3pm
Directed by the famed French director Jean Renoir, son of the famed painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, this film tells the story of a business-scheme that aims to revive the can-can. $7 / $5 Museum members
Amélie (2001)
Sunday, January 12 / 3pm
The story of a painfully shy waitress working at a tiny Paris cafe, Amélie makes a surprising discovery and sees her life drastically changed. $7 / $7 Museum members
Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne: Paris 1880-1910 will be exhibited November 2, 2013 through January 19, 2014 at the Nevada Museum of Art, Donald W. Reynolds Center for the Visual Arts, E. L. Wiegand Gallery located at 160 West Liberty Street in downtown Reno.
This exhibition is organized and circulated by Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia.
Lead sponsorship for the Nevada Museum of Art exhibition is provided by George and Irene Drews and the Thelma B. and Thomas P. Hart Foundation. Sponsorship provided by Goldcorp, USA. Supporting sponsorship by Earl and Wanda Casazza, Casazza SLV, LLC, and Catherine and John Farahi/Atlantis Casino Resort Spa.
His Excellency Francois Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United States of America, is Honorary Patron of the exhibition.
