The earliest work in the show is this painting
from 1871 by Eugène Boudin.
The blockbuster “Monet to Matisse – On the
French Coast” exhibition, that can be seen there
through May 31st, is no exception. In addition to
four paintings from the MFA’s own collection,
this exhibit includes exceptional paintings from
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn
Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National
Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection in
Washington, D.C., the Norton Museum of Art in
West Palm Beach and private collectors from
around the world.
This unique show features the work of French
artists, such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste
Renoir, Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, Pablo
Picasso and brothers Raoul and Jean Dufy that were
created on either the Atlantic or Mediterranean
coasts of France; which, like Florida, has two very
different coastlines. These artists flocked to
smaller coastal towns from the urban congestion
and pressures of Paris to find inspiration in the
ever-changing water, light and sky in places such
as Nice, Cannes, Le Havre and Antibes.
52 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2015