Impressive art on display

PROVO — The impressionist movement in the mid-to-late 1800s gave rise to a number of noted artists and photographers in the United States, along with artists associated with the Barbizon School in France.

Two new exhibitions open at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art in February that feature some of those artists. An opening reception for "Paths to Impressionism: French and American Landscape Paintings from the Worcester Art Museum" and "The Quiet Landscapes of William B. Post" is Thursday, Feb. 15, 7-9 p.m. in the Lied Gallery on the museum's main level with light refreshments. This reception is open to the public.

"Paths to Impressionism: French and American Landscape Paintings from the Worcester Art Museum" is on display in the Conway A. Ashton and Carl E. Jackman Gallery on the museum's lower level from Feb. 16 to July 8. "The Quiet Landscapes of William B. Post" is in the Warren and Alice Jones and Paul and Betty Boshard galleries on the museum's lower level.

"The Quiet Landscapes of William B. Post" is from the Warren and Alice Jones and Paul and Betty Boshard galleries and on display from Feb. 3 to May 28.

The 42 Barbizon and Impressionist paintings include works by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, George Inness, Claude Monet, John Singer Sargent and Alfred Sisley.

"The paintings in this exhibition are easy to love," said museum of art Curator Paul Anderson. "Because landscape paintings like these have been so universally appreciated for more than a century, it is easy to forget how revolutionary and controversial they were in their own time."

Beginning in the 1840s and 1850s, a group of young artists who had gathered around the little French village of Barbizon, turned away from the carefully rendered aristocratic portraits and history paintings that dominated the art world. These artists sought to depict their surroundings with greater realism by painting outdoors and choosing subjects that included the lives of ordinary working people.

American artists crossed the Atlantic to study in French academies, then blended their new found stylings with traditional American art to create a more conservative approach. By 1915, the artistic style dominated America.

The Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Mass. organized the exhibition. Guest curator is Elizabeth Johns, American art scholar, professor, and fellow at the College of the Holy Cross.