The National Gallery’s new exhibition brings together some major Impressionist paintings from The Courtauld Gallery including works by Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Manet, and Seurat. Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews…
Paul Cézanne,Hillside in Provence about 1890-2 .Bought, Courtauld Fund, 1926 © The National Gallery, London.
The Observer: ***** “Obviously the present collaboration, like the refurbishment itself, aims to change that by showing off the sheer glory of the Courtauld’s collection. But the interpolation of works from one within the other effectively turns this show into one concise impressionist gallery of the sort you might come across in Paris or New York.”
The Guardian: ***** “This is a clever, insightful exhibition that again and again reveals the revolutionary genius of the French avant garde in the age of Baudelaire.”
The Telegraph: **** “If you’re very familiar with the Courtauld and National Gallery collections, you’re unlikely to get any new revelations from this exhibition, except in the sense that paintings of this quality always do provide something new every time we see them. Yet looking at those fabulously incisive Cézanne landscapes – four from the Courtauld, one from the National – I was struck by how much his revolutionary vision was underpinned by the kind of intense manual dexterity that only comes with intense daily effort over decades.”
Evening Standard: **** “Time and again, the show permits comparisons between paintings normally separated by a half-mile walk along the Strand, so familiar works are reactivated.”
Time Out: **** “Short of Banksy reinterpreting ‘Guernica’ accompanied by bottomless prosecco, it’s hard to think of a more solid banker of a show than this.”
The Times: “The Courtauld Gallery has lent its gems to the National Gallery for a show that cements Samuel Courtauld’s legacy.”
London Visitors: “This remarkable exhibition is a testament to the taste and generosity of Samuel Courtauld who went against critical and public opinion when he began to start his collection.”
Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne is on display at the National Gallery until the 20th January 2019. For more information visit: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/courtauld-impressionists-from-manet-to-cezanne