The Frist Center for the Visual Arts opens Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art Friday, Feb. 15, 2008.

The exhibition, organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art, covers a century of art production from 1863 to 1964 and showcases important work by the major Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, early modern sculptors and avant-garde artists interested in Cubism, Expressionism and Surrealism. Most notably, the exhibition includes key works by Paul Cézanne, Salvador Dalí, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin and other renowned artists. Monet to Dalí will continue through June 1, 2008.

Monet to Dalí includes more than 75 of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s most highly acclaimed 19th and 20th century masterpieces of painting and sculpture, all key examples from the European modernist movement. The temporary closure of the museum during a renovation and expansion project provides the extraordinary opportunity for Cleveland to share some of its greatest treasures with other cities around the world, including Nashville.   

“The Cleveland Museum of Art has one of the most revered collections in the country,” says Susan H. Edwards, Ph.D., executive director and CEO of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. “Among the works is Rodin’s The Thinker. Not only will visitors see this iconic work in the context of the art of the period, but later this year, the Frist Center will present a Rodin exhibition, in which The Thinker can be seen in context of the artist’s long and distinguished career. We are thrilled that the Cleveland Museum of Art is lending highlights from its collection to the Frist Center to share with Nashville and the region.”

Between 1860 and 1960 Europe faced a series of social, political and economic upheavals: industrialization, the Franco-Prussian War, decolonization and the First and Second World Wars. During the same century, the German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche and the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud offered radical new ways to interpret the human experience. Art also underwent major transformations as a series of movements, beginning with Realism and ending in Surrealism, rapidly succeeded one another. The chronological presentation of paintings and sculptures in Monet to Dalí demonstrates the ways artists built on each other’s ideas and discoveries while making their own distinctive contributions to the history of art. Friendship and rivalry, creativity and rebellion, new ways of seeing, and unconventional techniques are themes of this sweeping presentation of works by Europe’s modern masters.

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art is divided into the following nine groupings: Prelude to Impressionism; The Age of Impressionism; Rodin and the Advent of Early Modern Sculpture; Rodin and his Contemporaries; Post-Impressionism, Symbolism and the Nabis; Picasso and the New Avant-garde; Modern Artists From Across Europe; Expressionism and New Objectivity in Germany; and Surrealism.

Highlights include:
 
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) – Romaine Lacaux (1864);
Claude Monet (1840–1926) – The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet (1868–78);
Berthe Morisot (1841–1895) – Reading (1873);
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) – The Thinker (ca. 1880);
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) – The Poplars at Saint-Rémy (1889);
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) – In the Waves (1889);
Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) – The Brook (ca. 1895–1900);
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) – La Vie (1903);
Amedeo Modigliani (1884–1920) – Portrait of a Woman (ca. 1917–18);
Henri Matisse (1869–1954) – Festival of Flowers, Nice (1923);
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) – The Dream (1931)

Education Gallery: Master Art
Master Art in the Education Gallery will feature three paintings and one sculpture from the Monet to Dalí exhibition. Visitors are invited to engage deeply and directly with the work of four masters: Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Auguste Rodin and Pablo Picasso, and explore what made these artists so innovative. Each served as agents of change: Monet with his distinct brushstrokes; van Gogh with his powerfully expressive use of color; Rodin with his incredible realism and the play of light across a three-dimensional surface; and Picasso with his fragmentation of form. Through a close examination of these four artworks, visitors will gain insight into the visual world and objectives of the artists.

Martin ArtQuest Gallery Activity: Impressionist Style Painting
Martin ArtQuest Gallery, the Frist Center’s interactive education gallery, offers visitors of all ages exciting ways to learn about art. More than 30 hands-on stations provide individuals and small groups the chance to experiment and learn about a variety of art concepts. For the Monet to Dalí exhibition, visitors can visit the painting station to create a landscape painting inspired by the artwork of artists Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. Martin ArtQuest Gallery is graciously endowed by Ellen H. Martin, Charles N. Martin and The Martin Foundation and supported by the Cal Turner Family Foundation and The William Stamps Farish Fund.

Travel Packages
The Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau offers a special overnight travel package including tickets to Monet to Dalí. Additional information about these offers and other happenings in Nashville can be found at www.visitmusiccity.com.

Loews Vanderbilt Hotel offers a special guest package that includes deluxe accommodations for two and two tickets to Monet to Dalí. Special rates are valid Feb. 15 to June 1, 2008. Additional information about this offer is available at www.loewsvanderbilt.com.

Special Programs

Friday, February 15        Curator’s Perspective: “Surprise Me!: A Closer Look
Noon                                 at Impressionist and Modern Masters from the    
Auditorium                        Cleveland Museum of Art”
Free

Dr. William H. Robinson, curator of Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art, will present an overview of the Cleveland collection, as well as details about his new research on Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso.

Friday, February 22            ARTini
7 p.m.    
Meet in the Frist Center Grand Lobby    
Free with gallery admission

Join Anne Taylor, Frist Center curator of interpretation, as she leads an informal conversation about one or two works of art in Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Complete your evening with music in the Grand Lobby, martinis at the cash bar and visiting with friends.

Saturdays in March            Frist Center Kids Club: Mondrian Geometry
(March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29)        
1–2:30 p.m.
Ages: 5–10
Meet in the Upper-Level Foyer            
Free: call 615.744.3357 to reserve a space

Saturdays in March, Kids Club members will use the colors and techniques of artist Piet Mondrian to create geometrical artwork. Kids Club offers exciting opportunities for children to discover, explore and create art. Free membership includes a Kids Club card, art classes and additional rewards for participation. 2008 Kids Club Sponsor: Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, The Pruett Financial Group

Thursday, March 13            Off the Wall Lecture, Part 1: “Baudelaire and the Modern Art Scene”
Auditorium  
Free

Join Lisa Weiss, assistant director at the W. T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French Studies and lecturer in the department of French and Italian at Vanderbilt University, for a presentation on Charles Baudelaire’s writings in Paris in relation to various artists’ interpretations of the city. Key topics for discussion will include modernity, the Salons and urban change. This is the first of a three-part lecture series examining the Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition from various disciplines.  

Sunday, March 16            Family Day   
1–5:30 p.m.  
Free

Enjoy a fun-filled day of exciting art activities, live music and theatrical performances. Explore the rich history presented in the exhibition Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Complete your visit by viewing the inspiring works of Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist on view in the Upper-Level Galleries.

Thursday, April 10            Off the Wall Lecture, Part 2: "Ballet During the 6:30 p.m.                      Time of Degas: The Dancer as Muse"
Auditorium  
Free

Join Paul Vasterling, artistic director for the Nashville Ballet, a Fulbright Scholar and an award-winning choreographer, as he discusses Edgar Degas’ view of the romantic ballet. As a life-long enthusiast of music and opera, Degas was a regular attendee of the Paris Opéra, both as an audience member and backstage visitor, giving him a unique perspective of the lives and work of the dancers there. This is the second of a three-part lecture series examining the Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition from various disciplines.

Thursday, April 17            Gallery Talk: Monet to Dalí
7 p.m.
Meet at the Information Desk
Free with purchase of gallery admission

Join Trinita Kennedy, associate curator at the Frist Center, for a tour of Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Complete your evening with music in the Grand Lobby, a cash bar and visiting with friends.

Friday, April 18                ARTini
7 p.m.  
Grand Lobby  
Free with purchase of gallery admission

Join Tonya Clarkson-McCain, assistant educator for public programs at the Frist Center, as she leads an informal conversation about one or two works of art in the Monet to Dalí exhibition. Complete your evening with music in the Grand Lobby, martinis at the cash bar and visiting with friends.

Saturdays in May             Frist Center Kids Club: Surreal Dreamscapes
(May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31)        
1–2:30 p.m.
Ages: 5–10
Meet in the Upper-Level Foyer            
Free: call 615.744.3357 to reserve a space

Saturdays in May, Kids Club members will create dreamscapes based on the surreal artwork of Salvador Dalí, René Magritte and Max Ernst. Kids Club offers exciting opportunities for children to discover, explore and create art. Free membership includes a Kids Club card, art classes and additional rewards for participation. 2008 Kids Club Sponsor: Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, The Pruett Financial Group.

Thursday, May 15            Off the Wall Lecture, Part 3: “Edouard Manet
6:30 p.m.                      and the French Impressionists:  
Auditorium                  Artistic Cross-Pollination”
Free

Dr. Mishoe Brennecke, associate professor and chair of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of the South, presents the final lecture of a three-part series that examines the Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art exhibition from various disciplines. The speaker will examine Edouard Manet’s relationship to French Impressionism, including the impact of his works of the 1860s and 1870s in particular, as well as the reciprocal influence of French Impressionism on Manet’s works during the later years of his life.

Friday, May 16            Films at the Frist: Lust for Life
7 p.m.  
Auditorium
Free

Based on the novel by Irving Stone, Lust for Life is a brilliant portrait of the relationship between the tormented painter Vincent van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) and his friend Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn). Beautifully photographed, the film is an exquisite feast of color orchestration. (Directed by Vincente Minnelli; Not Rated; 122 minutes; 1956)

2008 Frist Center Gala
The 2008 Frist Center Gala, which celebrates the opening of Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art, will be held Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 7 p.m. The honorary chair for this annual event is Mrs. Thomas F. Frist, Jr. The gala co-chairs are Mrs. Randall L. Kinnard and Mrs. A. Bruce Moore, Jr. The gala will feature a silent auction with a selection of products, services and travel packages from around the world. For more information, visit www.fristcenter.org/site/support/gala_event.aspx.

Gallery admission to the Frist Center is free for visitors 18 and younger and to Frist Center members. Frist Center admission is $8.50 for adults, $7.50 for seniors and military and $6.50 for college students with ID. Thursday evenings, 5–9 p.m., admission is free for college students with a valid college ID. Discounts are offered for groups of 10 or more with advance reservations by calling 615.744.3246. The Frist Center is open seven days a week: Mondays through Wednesdays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. and Sundays, 1–5:30 p.m., with the Frist Center Café opening at noon. Additional information is available by calling 615.244.3340 or by visiting www.fristcenter.org.