Through Jan. 25 — The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art to come to Santa Barbara Museum of Art

 

Only Western U.S. Venue. Companion Exhibition Encore: 19th Century French Art Drawn from the SBMA Collection to Include Four Monet Paintings Shown Together for the First Time

SANTA BARBARA — The Santa Barbara Museum of Art will become an exciting place this fall to experience two major exhibitions of Impressionist and 19th-Century art, among the most popular and beautiful ever created. The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art explores the rebellious origins of the independent artist collective known as the Impressionists and the revolutionary course they charted for modern art. The exhibition features a rich array of paintings, including exquisite examples by Monet, van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Mondrian, Morisot, and Munch tell a story of a plucky group of artists who challenged the status quo and won, changing art forever. Encore: 19th-Century French Art from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art has more than 40 artworks on view. Using 19th-century paintings and photographs, the exhibition takes you on a virtual tour of Parisian sites, such as Notre Dame and Eiffel Tour, but also to the famed French Riviera, the cliffs of Normandy, lush countryside farms, and to the places these artists traveled, such as London, the Netherlands, and Germany. With deep holdings in photography, painting, and sculpture from the period, this exhibition both recreates the milieu of these artists but also reveals the breadth and importance of the Museum’s vast holdings. Tickets to both exhibitions will become available to the public on Saturday, August 30, 2025 at https://www.sbma.net/ticketing/ir-encore-2025.

The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art is told entirely through the Dallas Museum of Art’s exceptional holdings. The Impressionists broke with tradition in both how and what they painted, redefining what then constituted cutting-edge contemporary art. The unique innovations of its core members, such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot, set the foundation against which following generations of avant-garde artists reacted, from Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh to Piet Mondrian and Henri Matisse. Organized on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition, The Impressionist Revolution invites visitors to reconsider these now beloved artists as the scandalous renegades they at one time were, as well as the considerable impact they had on 20th-century art. This major exhibition has been curated by Nicole R. Myers, Ph.D., Chief Curatorial and Research officer, The Barbara Thomas Lemmon Senior Curator of European Art, Dallas Museum of Art. The presentation in Santa Barbara is coordinated by James Glisson, Ph.D., Chief Curator, Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Having opened at the DMA in Dallas, Texas in February 2024, the exhibition is currently on view in Mexico City at the Palace of Fine Arts (through July 2025). The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is the only venue in the Western U.S. The exhibition catalogue is published by the Dallas Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.

Encore: 19th-Century French Art from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art features extraordinary paintings, posters, books, and photographs, including works by Monet, Matisse, Degas, Caillebotte, Morisot, Sisley, Boudin, and Tissot. This unprecedented exhibition expands on The Impressionist Revolution in the adjacent galleries while telling its own captivating tale with SBMA’s impressive holdings. Think of it as a virtual tour of Paris and France with artwork as your guide.

The journey begins with famous Parisian sites, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the bohemian enclave of Montmartre with its dancehalls and artist hangouts. From there, it heads to the farms and forests of the verdant French countryside with additional stops in Normandy and Brittany. The trip ends with London, a second city for Impressionists, and two Monet paintings of the foggy River Thames. Drawn entirely from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s superb collection, Encore shows the quality and range of SBMA’s 19th-century art, including a rare opportunity to view all four of its magnificent Monet landscape paintings in one exhibition. Encore is co-curated by James Glisson, SBMA Chief Curator; Andrew Witte, SBMA Curatorial Assistant; and Charles Wylie, former SBMA Curator of Photography and New Media.

Public Programs

A full slate of public programs, conversations, and performances will be presented during the run of the exhibitions. And a range of educational activities, school tours, group tours and community partnerships are in the planning stages.

Backcountry Casitas Program in Partnership with the SB Botanic Garden Claude Monet inspired Nature Playhouse

Opens Saturday, October 25

As part of a community wide call for artists, SBMA teaching artist, Jason Summers, working with staff and materials at the SB Botanic Garden, will create a “casita” on the garden’s campus. This interactive nature playhouse will be inspired by the works of Claude Monet featured in The Impressionist Revolution and Encore. Monet’s love for gardens and the natural world will be emphasized in the information included on a take-home coloring page available inside the casita. The sheet will invite garden visitors to come to the Museum after experiencing this family-friendly interactive structure.

Intimate Impressions: Art, Wine, and Music

Friday, November 7, 4-6 pm

Enjoy time exploring the galleries then go “underground” in best revolutionary style to the SBMA Art Learning Lab, transformed for the evening into a bespoke bohemian boîte. Sample wines selected by Renegade wines and paired with works in the exhibition as you enjoy bistro inspired bites. Sommelier and chanteuse Kristen Lee Sargeant, accompanied on piano, adds to the creative conviviality performing three original compositions in conversation with works of art. Who can rebel while sipping Rose? We say, Encore!

Adult Art Studio Class En Plein Air at Lotusland

Saturday, November 8 1-4 pm

Artists of all levels are invited to paint en plein air in the gardens inspired by works currently on view in TheImpressionist Revolution and Encore. Museum Teaching Artist Nicola Ghersen will lead an inspiring afternoon of exploring the painting techniques and rebellious spirit of these radical visionary artists. This program is a collaboration between the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Lotusland.

Sunday, January 11, 2:30, 3:15 pm, and 4pm

Talented young local musicians selected by SB Symphony’s master pianist Natasha Kislenko, will perform music by Debussy, Poulenc, Faure and others in the Museum galleries. Special appearance by UCSB professors Jennifer Kloetzel, cello and Jessica Guideri, violin performing the brilliant and virtuosic Piano Trio by Maurice Ravel.

Sunday, January 18, 2:30 pm

In an afternoon of reading and conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winner Sebastian Smee, art critic for “The Washington Post”, shares with us his fresh look at the “origin story” and the tragic time which he argues, led to the “Impressionist Revolution.” His much lauded and at times hotly debated premise, told with both knowledge and panache, is at the center of Paris in Ruins: Love,

War, and the Birth of Impressionism.

Smee posits that from the summer of 1870 to the spring of 1871, famously dubbed the “Terrible

Year” by Victor Hugo, Paris and its people were besieged, starved, and forced into surrender by Germans. It was against the backdrop of these tumultuous times that the Impressionist Movement was born?in response to violence, civil war, and political intrigue. He suggests that in the aftermath of crisis, this small group of painters developed a newfound sense of the fragility of life.

Ticketing:

Admission to the exhibitions requires an additional fee and timed tickets, with advance sales for SBMA members from August 15–29 and public ticket sales beginning at 10:00 am PDT on August 30, 2025. Members will receive priority access; more details available at sbma.net.

https://www.sbma.net/ticketing/ir-encore-2025.

Public docent tours as well as special request tours for groups will be offered throughout the run of the exhibition. Details to come.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is one of the finest museums on the West coast and is celebrated for the superb quality of its permanent collection. Its mission is to integrate art into the lives of people through internationally recognized exhibitions and special programs, as well as the thoughtful presentation of its permanent collection.

Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA