On the occasion of the closure of the Reims Museum of Fine Arts until 2025, the Lodève Museum was offered the loan of part of its collections. Its director, Ivonne Papin, has therefore taken from it something that echoes the scientific and cultural project of Lodève, which is closely linked to the landscape, of which Reims possesses an important collection of paintings. The exhibition recalls key moments in 19th century landscape painting, from the Barbizon school (with Jules Dupré, Charles Daubigny, Stanislas Lépine) to post-impressionism. The exhibition opens with a very fine group of Corot paintings: eleven of the twenty-seven in the Reims museum. Although he finished his paintings in the studio and often kept an anecdotal dimension, this precursor of painting from nature opened the way to a community of painters converging in Barbizon. Along with the skies and shores of Jongkind and Boudin, their views show that the modern landscape painted on the motif did not wait for Monet - present in the exhibition with Les Rochers de Belle-Île (1886) - to see the light of day. Some very fine pieces of painting stand out, such as Le Quai des Grands Augustins by Marquet or a piece of greenery by Renoir, soberly entitled Paysage.

Extract from the article by Emma Noyant published in the N°104 de la revue Art Absolument. Published February 3, 2023

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