Capturing the moment: From Cezanne to Renoir, painting with light, nature

In 1874 France, a group of artists, who were refused admittance to the prestigious annual Salon de Paris exhibition, organized a show at the studio of the photographer Nadar.

The critical response to their work was mixed; one newspaper critic, Louis Leroy, was particularly hostile, attacking Claude Monet's painting, "Impression, Sunrise," as "Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape."

Leroy's derisive review carried the title, "The Exhibition of the Impressionists." The term "Impressionists" quickly gained favor with the public and was accepted by the artists themselves, even though their painting styles and personalities were uniquely different.

Influenced by nature and life surrounding them, Impressionists customarily painted using pure, unbroken and often unmixed colors to achieve the appearance of spontaneity. To capture nature and the changing effects of light, they regularly painted outdoors. And while employing ordinary everyday subjects, they tended to avoid the ugly or vulgar.

Notwithstanding the Impressionists' creation of an innovative new style and depiction of modern life, there was much in their technique and composition that echoed the work of their predecessors, the Old Masters.

In an effort to explore the link between the two, the Denver Art Museum is showing "Inspiring Impressionism," an exhibition of more than 100 works drawn from approximately 70 museums and private collections.

Featuring masterpieces by artists including Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Frederic Bazille, Mary Cassatt and Paul Cezanne, alongside those of Raphael, Titian, El Greco, Diego Velazquez, and others, the exhibit is on display through May 25.

"This is the first exhibition to focus specifically on the important relationships between the Impressionists and Old Masters," said Timothy J. Standring, Gates Foundation curator of painting and sculpture. "The story of this relationship, while accepted by many art historians, has never been explored as an exhibition on such a broad scale."

Exhibition highlights include traditional landscapes, still lifes, portraits and Fete-Champetre (garden party scenes) by Old Masters such as Claude Lorrain, Jean-Simeon Chardin and Frans Hals that are paired with Impressionist works.

Pairings, such as Cassatt's "Mrs. Duffee Seated on a Striped Sofa, Reading" (1876) and Jean Honore Fragonard's "Reader" (1776) explore connections through use of similar artistic technique, composition and subject matter.