The Courtauld Gallery and The Fondation Louis Vuitton are pleased to announce the major exhibition 鈥The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism鈥, which will take place at the Fondation Louis Vuitton from 20 February to 17 June 2019.
This landmark exhibition will explore Samuel Courtauld鈥檚 role as one of the great collectors of the twentieth century and showcase his extraordinary collection, which will be on display in Paris for the first time in over sixty years.
It brings together around 100 works that all belonged to Samuel Courtauld. The majority of these are owned by The Courtauld Gallery and they will be reunited with other important paintings formerly in Courtauld鈥檚 collection and now held in international public and private collections. In addition, the exhibition will include watercolours by William Turner that belonged to Samuel Courtauld鈥檚 brother, Stephen. The exhibition will also shed light on Courtauld鈥檚 pioneering role in shaping public taste for Impressionism in the United Kingdom.
鈥淭he Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism鈥 is in line with previous exhibitions held at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, such as 鈥淜eys to a Passion鈥 (2014-2015), 鈥淚cons of Modern Art. The Shchukin Collection鈥 (2016-2017), and 鈥淏eing Modern: MoMA in Paris鈥 (2017-2018), which all aimed to present seminal collections of modern masterpieces assembled by enlightened philanthropists.
Samuel Courtauld鈥檚 ties with France ran deep: of Huguenot origin, his family came from the 脦le d鈥橭l茅ron on the Atlantic coast of France and emigrated to London in the late 17th century. His ancestors were silversmiths and later silk producers. In the early 20th century the development of viscose, a revolutionary synthetic fibre sometimes called 鈥榓rtificial silk鈥, turned the business into one of the largest textile manufacturers in the world. Samuel Courtauld had apprenticed as a young man in France and when he became chairman of the company in 1921, he often returned to Paris to purchase Impressionist works of art from French dealers. He was made Chevalier de la L茅gion d鈥橦onneur for services to the arts in 1933. After his death, the Orangerie staged a commemorative exhibition in 1955, which marked the last time many of his works were seen in Paris, including Van Gogh鈥檚 Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Several others have not been back since their purchase by Courtauld in the early 20th century.
This major exhibition is made possible by the temporary closure for renovation of The Courtauld Gallery, from September 2018. This ambitious multiyear venture, entitled Courtauld Connects, will see the transformation of 91制片厂 and Gallery鈥檚 current home in Somerset House in central London. More information is available online听