Monet and the Impressionists in Normandy are on display in Asti.

From September 13, 2019 to February 16, 2020, Palazzo Mazzetti in Asti is hosting the exhibition Monet and the Impressionists in Normandy, which displays 75 works to tell the story of the connection between the Impressionist movement and Normandy. In this region of northern France, several artists (even before the Impressionist movement was born: think of Delacroix and Courbet) captured the immediacy and vitality of the landscape by imprinting on canvas the moods of the sky, the colors of the sea and the valleys of Normandy. Curated by Alain Tapié, the exhibition traces the stages of this relationship, starting with Eugène Delacroix (a work from 1834, Crags at Dieppe, is present) passing through Gustave Courbet(The Beach at Trouville, 1865) and arriving at the works of Monet, Renoir and colleagues to recount exchanges, comparisons, and collaborations between the great artists who, immersed in the context of a unique nature, gave Normandy the emblematic image of the happiness of painting.

The project focuses on the holdings of the Peindre en Normandie Collection, one of the most representative collections of the Impressionist period, alongside works from the Musée Alphonse-Georges-Poulain in Vernon, the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris, and the Bemberg Foundation in Toulouse.

The “discovery” of Normandy, however, can be attributed to English painters such as William Turner and Henry Parker who, having crossed the Channel, passed on their ability to translate truth and natural vitality to French painters. Places such as Dieppe, the Seine estuary, the city of Le Havre, the beach of Trouville, the coastline from Honfleur to Deauville, the port of Fécamp (all represented in the works on display at the Mazzetti Palace) become a source of powerful artistic expressions, where the microcosms generated by the wind, sea and mist possess a physical, intense and expressive personality, which French painters came to grasp by painting en plein air thus initiating the Impressionist movement.

"In the wake of the resounding success of the exhibition Chagall. Color and Magic," says Mario Sacco, president of Fondazione Asti Musei, "Fondazione Asti Musei continues on its path, together with the Municipality of Asti and the Piedmont Region, to enable Asti to stand as an international city of culture. The exhibition Monet and the Impressionists in Normandy lands in Palazzo Mazzetti, after stopping in Memphis (USA), Japan, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Münster in Germany and the Scandinavian and Baltic countries: an honor and pride for our city to be able to host an exhibition of the highest artistic and cultural value. The project, shared with Professor Vittorio Sgarbi, has been realized thanks to the fruitful and active synergy with local authorities and the collaboration with Ponte - Organisation für kulturelles Management GmbH. The works, as many as 75 paintings, come largely from the Peindre en Normandie Collection, but also from the Musée Alphonse-Georges-Poulain in Vernon, the Musée Marmottan in Paris and the Bemberg Foundation in Toulouse, and have been harmoniously amalgamated by curator Alain Tapié .For the first time in Asti, it will be possible to admire canvases by Monet, Renoir, Courbet, Bonnard, and Morisot: an exhibition that recounts the path and exchanges of the most ’greats’ of the period who made Normandy the sweet cradle of the movement by exalting its landscape and naturalistic aspects. I am certain that the large number of visitors that will come to our territory, in addition to being a source of prestige for the people of Asti, will be an element of development and increase for tourism, thus promoting the growth of the entire Langhe, Monferrato and Roero system.I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Cassa di Risparmio di Asti Group, which has decided to join and accompany us on this challenging and ambitious path that will drag Asti and our wonderful hills around the world.The dream that began with Chagall is immersed in the crystal-clear waters of Monet’s painting Bateaux sur la plage al’Étretat."

The exhibition is organized by Fondazione Asti Musei, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti, the Piedmont Region and the Municipality of Asti, in collaboration with Ponte - Organisation für kulturelles management GMBH, organized by Arthemisia, with the participation of Gruppo Cassa di Risparmio di Asti and with the contribution of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino.

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (ticket office closes one hour before). Closed Mondays. Tickets (with audioguide): full 13 euros, full + smarticket 18 euros, reduced 10 euros, reduced + smarticket 15 euros. The smarticket formula ticket includes admission to several museums: Mazzetti Palace, Alfieri Palace, St. Anastasius Crypt and Museum, Troyana Tower, Domus Romana, St. Peter’s Complex. For info you can visit the exhibition website.

Pictured: Claude Monet, Étretat (circa 1864).

Monet and the Impressionists in Normandy are on display in Asti.

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