Couleur et lumière — französische Malerei von 1870 bis 1918

Couleur et lumière -- colour and light -- were both the ubject and the painting method of artists like Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and many others on a voyage of discovery to find new means of artistic expression. Beginning around 1870, en plein air, the Impressionists painted the world as they perceived it. Aiming to paint the flickering of sunlight, they were not concerned with the portrayal of specific natural forms, picture construction and composition. The rediscovery of space in the art of the Pointillists and the reorientation towards colour fields in the works of the Synthetists prepared the way for the Classic Modern Art of the 20th century. Sixty paintings from 43 artists display the rich vocabulary of form and colour of French painting from the end of the 19th century.