Impressionist paintings by Monet, Degas, Renoir are at Old Town Square’s Kinsky Palace

A large exhibit of 60 French Impressionist paintings has opened at
Kinsky Palace on Old Town Square, and runs to Oct. 13.

The show, called
French Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Ordrupgaard Collection,
is the largest of its type ever staged by National Gallery Prague.

Key works in the show are by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Berthe Morisot. There is also an overview of French painting of the 19th and early 20th centuries before and after Impressionism with works by Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Camille Corot and Édouard Manet as well as Post-Impressionist works by Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin.

“I dare say that
the opportunity to see such a comprehensive collection of French
Impressionism in the Czech Republic may never occur on such a scope
again. The fact is that museums are not always willing to lend works
by these distinguished artists; arranging a loan of even one canvas
can take many months and even years, and some chefs-d’oeuvre never
leave their place at all,” exhibition curator Petr Šámal said.

The collection, from
the Danish state-owned museum at Ordrupgaard, was created by the
businessman and art patron Wilhelm Hansen in the 1920s. Putting the
collection together required some insight.

“Today, French
Impressionists are the pride and joy of every museum. However,
purchasing their artworks required considerable courage and
collecting intuition in their day. Wilhelm Hansen was a champion of
French art collecting in the Scandinavian countries. During and
shortly after World War I, Wilhelm created a collection of paintings
that is unparalleled in Scandinavia,” Šámal added.

Hansen, a Danish
insurance magnate, soon opened his collection to the public and later
bequeathed it to the Danish State. The National Gallery Prague is now
presenting it to visitors in Central Europe for the very first time.

The Ordrupgaard
Museum is closed for renovations and has decided to lend the
collection, rather than have it sit unseen in storage.

Prior to Prague, it
was shown in France, Canada and Switzerland. The exhibition “French
Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Ordrupgaard Collection” will
be on view at Kinsky Palace of the National Gallery Prague from June
29 to October 13, 2019.

The exhibition will
be open daily, including Mondays, from 10 am to 6 pm; on Wednesdays
and Saturdays till 8 pm.

The exhibition is a
collaboration between the National Gallery Prague and the Danish
state-owned art museum at Ordrupgaard.