Art works from the MSK collection at international exhibitions this spring and summer

After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art
25.03 – 13.08.23 National Gallery London

After Impressionism explores a period of great upheaval when artists broke with established tradition and laid the foundations for the art of the 20th and the 21st centuries. The decades between 1880 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 were a complex, vibrant period of artistic questioning, searching, risk-taking and innovation. This exhibition celebrates the achievements of three giants of the era: Cézanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin and follows the influences they had on younger generations of European artists.

On view from the MSK collection is Kneeling Youth from the Fountain (1898) by George Minne. From about 1889 onwards Minne became interested in the figure of the kneeling youth withdrawn into himself. This figure from 1898 represents the end of his search for austere, simple forms. In that same year he grouped five identical kneeling youths around a basin, the famous Fountain of the Kneeling Youths whose original model in plaster is owned by the museum.

Children of Impressionism
31.03 – 2.07.23 Musée des Impressionismes Giverny

This exhibition is dedicated to the different facets of childhood at the end of the 19th century, featuring works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot and others. Through various themes – maternity, nannies, children of artists, education, gardens, games, beaches, animals, adolescence, and daydreams – and around a hundred works, the exhibition will explore the ambiguities of the theme, beyond archetypal representations of childhood.

On view from the MSK collection is the luministic landscape scene Gathering Corn by Emile Claus depicting children gathering hay in a field.

Flemish Expressionism – Wonderful Memories
25.03 – 20.08.23 Kunstmuseum the Hague

Flemish Expressionism - Wonderful Memories provides a broad overview of an important period in Flemish art with in addition to the work of Gustave De Smet and Frits Van den Berghe, paintings by Jozef Cantré, Constant Permeke and Edgard Tytgat. It is the movement's colourful and often mischievous character that takes centre stage at Kunstmuseum Den Haag.

On view from the MSK collection are The Idiot by the Pond and Self-Portrait by Frits Van den Berghe, and Child's Head and The Good House by Gustave De Smet.

Sarah Bernhardt. And the woman created the star
14.04 – 27.08.23 Petit Palais Paris

This exhibition highlights the career of emblematic actress and artist Sarah Bernhardt. Through over four hundred works, visitors are immersed in her life as a star in the spotlight, as well as her activities as a painter, writer and sculptor.

From the MSK, Mary-Magdalene by Alfred Stevens is on display, some are convinced that the actress modelled for this painting. Stevens met Sarah Bernhardt in about 1887, and did several portraits of her. In a number of these she posed as a character from history or from literature. The provocativeness of this work, even though it corresponds entirely to what Mary Magdalene represented, shocked the general public because they preferred to see her portrayed as a remorseful penitent.