19 Must-See Impressionism Shows Around the World in 2024

Paris

To commemorate Impressionism’s 150th birthday, the Musée d’Orsay presents “Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism” (through July 14). The exhibition consists of 130 artworks, some of which have not been shown in the French capital for some time. These include The Parisian (1874) by Auguste Renoir, which the National Museum of Wales loans out only once every 10 years, and Camille Pissarro’s The Orchard in Bloom, Louviciennes (1872), loaned by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

To emphasize how far the Impressionists departed from the norms of the academy, the display includes religious and historical paintings approved by the official Salon alongside Impressionist scenes of modern life, often executed rapidly and in the open air. This unprecedented show will travel to the National Gallery for a four-month run beginning on September 8.

“Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism,” through July 14, 2024, Musée d’Orsay, Paris; “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment,” September 8, 2024–January 19, 2025, National Gallery, Washington, DC

Nice, France

Berthe Morisot took part in all the exhibitions of the Impressionist group except that of 1879, which she skipped after giving birth. From June 7 through September 29, Nice’s Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Chéret will devote an exhibition to her two trips to the South of France, in 1881–82 and 1888–89.

The extensive research conducted by curator Marianne Mathieu, the former director of Paris’s Musée Marmottan Monet, was instrumental in dating, identifying, and locating the subjects of Morisot’s work from these sojourns (until now, for instance, nobody knew where the Arnulphy Villa, which she started painting during her first visit, was situated) and in understanding her creative process: The artist would execute several studies before painting back in her studio.

The exhibition will include Bateau illuminé (1889), the only nocturnal scene known to have been painted by Morisot, and a partial recreation of an interior window she had designed for her Paris studio after seeing the Church of Gesù in Nice’s old town. A never-before-seen sketchbook from her stay in Nice will be reproduced for the first time in the exhibition catalog.

“Berthe Morisot à Nice, escales impressionnistes,” June 7–September 29, 2024, Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Chéret, Nice

Lille, France

Lille’s Palais des Beaux-Arts owns two paintings by Claude Monet depicting the village of Vétheuil, in Normandy—La débâcle (1880) and Vétheuil, le matin (1900). To convey the rhythm of the seasons and a shift in Monet’s career from difficult times to prosperity, the museum has brought together for the first time works by Monet from its collection and four loans from the Musée d’Orsay: Les Glaçons (1880), Église de Vétheuil (1879), La Seine à Vétheuil, effet de soleil après la pluie (1879), and Vétheuil, soleil couchant (circa 1900). The exhibition, titled “Monet in Vétheuil: Seasons of a Life,” runs from April 11 to September 23.

“Monet in Vétheuil: Seasons of a Life,” April 11–September 23, 2024, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille

Rouen, France

The Musée de Beaux-Arts de Rouen launched the fifth edition of the Normandie Impressionnisme festival with an exhibition by David Hockney dubbed “Normandism” by the curator Florence Calame-Levert. The British artist has lived in Normandy since 2019—drawn, as the Impressionist painters were, by the ever-changing light. The first gallery is home to portraits of Hockney’s Normandy entourage, from his doctor to his partner, Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima, to his gardener. Next is a confrontation between landscapes by Hockney and those of Monet. One of the highlights of the display are Hockney’s iPad sketches that have been animated to show the British artist’s creative process. And in the Moon Room, we find 13 never-before-shown nocturnal scenes made by Hockney in 2020, 11 done on an iPad and two on canvas, although at first glance you can barely see the difference. Through September 22.

Later in the spring, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen will present “James Abbott McNeill Whistler: The Butterfly Effect” (May 24–September 22). What does the American painter have to do with Impressionism? The exhibition shows the lasting influence that he exerted between 1874 and 1914 on artists in France, Europe, and the United States. In particular, the exhibition examines the influence/ impact that Whistler’s most famous work, “Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Artist’s Mother” (1871), had on photographers Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Haviland and painters Charles Cottet, John White Alexander, and Fernand Khnopff. Multimedia tools made for the exhibit will help visitors better understand Whistler’s art through touch, smell, and hearing.

“David Hockney: Normandism,” through September 22, 2024 and “James Abbott McNeill Whistler: The Butterfly Effect,” May 24–September 22, 2024, Musée de Beaux-Arts de Rouen

Strasbourg, France

The 150th anniversary of Impressionism was an opportunity for Strasbourg’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to rethink the beginning of “Joyous Frictions,” its permanent display illustrating the relationship between modern and contemporary work.. The resulting exhibition, called “Sensations and Impressions” (through December 15), contrasts the transience of ever-changing light and the materiality of painting. Alfred Sisley offers a case in point: He left Paris in 1863 in search of impermanent phenomena (shifting clouds, wind-ruffled water . . .) that, paradoxically, he could only capture with physical brushes and pigments.

Some 20 works by Sisley, Charles Laval, Aristide Maillol, and Félix Vallotton, including long-term loans from the Musée d’Orsay, show how Impressionism and Post-Impressionism were instrumental in forging modernity. Fifteen paintings by Monet, Paul Signac, František Kupka, Wassily Kandinsky, and Mikhail Larionov are also part of the exhibit.

“Sensations and Impressions,” March 19–December 15, 2024, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS)

Albi, France

The Musée Toulouse-Lautrec in Albi, birthplace of the eponymous artist, presents “Toulouse Lautrec and Impressionism” (through June 9). The title speaks for itself—the exhibition demonstrates the connections between Impressionist painters and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The Musée d’Orsay has loaned Charles le coeur (1872–73) and La liseuse (1874–76) by Renoir as well Sur un banc au Bois de Boulogne (1894) by Morisot. All three works are displayed as part of the museum’s permanent exhibition, showing the influence of Impressionism on Toulouse-Lautrec’s work. This theme is also the subject of tours, workshops, and conferences.

“Toulouse Lautrec and Impressionism,” through June 9, 2024, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi

Giverny, France

The angle was obvious, and yet no institution had adopted it per se before Cyrille Sciama, director of Giverny’s Musée des Impressionnismes, got the idea for “Impressionism and the Sea” (through September 22). With 80 works (paintings, photographs, a film), the exhibition showcases a subject that most Impressionist painters found fascinating.

The exhibition, which focuses on the Normandy and Brittany coasts and spans the period from 1870 to 1900, is divided into thematic sections—ports, the treatment of light and night, storms and shipwrecks, holidays and travels, and more. The Musée d’Orsay has loaned 16 paintings, including Édouard Manet’s breathtaking L’Evasion de Rochefort (1881), depicting a small boat traversing a vast blue-gray sea, and Johan Barthold Jongkind’s Le port d’Anvers (1855), which seems rather classical next to Pissarro’s L’Anse des pilotes. Le Havre, matin, soleil, marée montante (1903).

Also on view is La plage du Pouldu, rivage Breton à marée basse. Finistère (1891) by Maxime Maufra, one of the museum’s latest acquisitions. Camille Corot opens the show as the one who discovered Normandy, followed by Eugène Boudin, who lived and mentored Monet in Honfleur, and then Paul Gauguin. A photograph by Pierre et Gilles concludes the show as a reminder that Impressionism lives on today.

“Impressionism and the Sea,” through September 22, 2024, Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny

Le Havre, France

“Photographing in Normandy (1840–1890): A Pioneering Dialogue Between the Arts,” which will be shown at the Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux from May 25 to September 22, sheds light on the part that Normandy played in the rise of photography. The French region, where many artists went to experiment with techniques, saw the influence of photographers on painters (some of them Impressionists) and vice versa.

Included are works by photographers Auguste Autin, Hippolyte Bayard, Julien Blot, Alphonse de Brébisson, and Hippolyte Fizeau, and painters Eugène Boudin, Gustave Courbet, Johan Barthold Jongkind, and Louis Alexandre Dubourg. The pictorial and photographic works on display reflect a common interest in seascapes, cultural heritage, the countryside, portraits, marketplaces, national celebrations, and urban transformations. First-time pairings—for instance, between one of Monet’s paintings of the Rouen Cathedral and Edmond Bacot’s photograph Partie supérieure de la façade de la Cathédrale de Rouen (circa 1853)—are to be expected.

“Photographing in Normandy (1840–1890): A Pioneering Dialogue Between the Arts,” May 25–September 22, 2024, Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux, Le Havre

Caen, France

The Impressionists were fascinated not only by the metamorphoses of light but by the changes in the society they lived in. The 19th century was a time of economic expansion that did not escape their brushes. This is the angle chosen by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen to commemorate the 150-year anniversary of Impressionism. The exhibition “A Spectacle of Merchandise, 1860–1914” (through September 8) consists of 100 paintings, photographs, sculptures, films, drawings, and etchings, including 20 loans from the Musée d’Orsay. Maximilien Luce’s Le chantier (1911) introduces Paris as a vast and ongoing construction site.

While Raoul Dufy’s Le marché aux poissons à Marseille (circa 1903) and Théophile Steinlen’s La vendeuse de fleurs (1898) hint at the permanence of traditional shops, Félix Valotton’s Le bon marché (1893) acknowledges the rise of department stores. Jules Adler, Pierre Bonnard, Pissarro, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec—all focused on the teeming streets, agitated waiters, eye-catching posters, and luminous signs that were instrumental in turning modern cities into fields of trade.

“A Spectacle of Merchandise, 1860–1914,” through September 8, 2024, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen

London

Some of Monet’s most impressive Impressionist paintings were made in London. Started over three stays in the British capital between 1899 and 1901, they depict national landmarks—Charing Cross Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, and the Houses of Parliament—and were presented for the first time at a Paris exhibition in 1904. The artist wanted to show the same body of works in London but did not get the opportunity.

With “Monet and London: View of the Thames” (September 27–January 19, 2025), London’s Courtauld Gallery will make Monet’s wishes come true, not far from the Savoy Hotel, where he stayed and painted. By reuniting works that were meant to be featured together, the exhibition shows Monet’s skills, not just as an artist, but as a curator.

“Monet and London: View of the Thames,” September 27, 2024–January 19, 2025, The Courtauld Gallery, London

Williamstown, Massachusetts

A dozen works by Edgar Degas were showcased in the very first Impressionist Exhibition, 150 years ago. Now, the artist’s works on paper will be the subject of an exhibition called “Edgar Degas: Multi-Media Artist in the Age of Impressionism” (July 13–October 6) at the Clark Institute.

Degas was known for experimenting with pastels, drawings, and photographs. When he reconnected with printmaking, in 1875, he was equally adventurous. Each print was retouched, improved, and enhanced, and monotypes (created by applying paint or ink to a sheet of metal, glass, or plastic) became an essential part of his process.

In addition to public and private loans, this behind-the-scenes look at Degas’s innovative methods draws from the museum’s permanent collection. Attention will also be given to Degas’s ties with Impressionism and its core members.

“Edgar Degas: Multi-Media Artist in the Age of Impressionism,” July 13–October 6, 2024, Clark Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Dallas

Also commemorating the 150-year anniversary of Impressionism is “The Impressionist Revolution” at the Dallas Museum of Art (through November 3). With 90 works created between 1870 and 1925, the exhibition foregrounds the rebelliousness of this renegade group within European modernism. “Breaking with tradition in both how and what they painted, as well as how they showed their work, the Impressionists redefined what constituted cutting-edge contemporary art at great personal and financial risk,” said exhibition curator Nicole Myers.

In other words, the Impressionists’ rejection of long-held artistic conventions helped pave the way for future artists, from Paul Gauguin to Vincent Van Gogh to Piet Mondrian and Henri Matisse. The show, drawn primarily from the museum’s holdings, is organized into thematic sections that examine the key players of the Impressionist movement, the rapidly modernizing world in which they worked, their approach to techniques and materials, the invention of pointillism, the far-reaching impact of Impressionism on the 20th century, and more.

“The Impressionist Revolution” through November 3, 2024, Dallas Museum of Art

Philadelphia

“Mary Cassatt at Work” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (May 18–September 8) will be the first large-scale American retrospective devoted to the Pennsylvania-born artist in 25 years. Cassatt was an active member of the Impressionist movement, starting with the first exhibition in 1874, and committed herself to her art for no fewer than six decades.

“Art was Mary Cassatt’s life’s purpose and living,” said Sasha Suda, director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum. “This exhibition will focus on her professionalism, her biography, and the wider Parisian world she inhabited. It’s my hope that it will reshape contemporary conversations about gender, work, and artistic agency.”

The show will demonstrate the evolution of Cassatt’s work through 130 prints, pastels, and paintings reflecting the social, intellectual, and working lives of modern women. The museum will also share the discoveries that were recently made about Cassatt’s materials and methods, which were radical in her time.

“Mary Cassatt at Work,” May 18–September 8, 2024, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Cologne, Germany

In “1863•Paris•1874: Revolution in Art” (through July 28), Cologne’s Wallraf Museum tells the story of how a few artists came to form one of the most influential artistic movements of all time. In the beginning, there was the Salon de Paris, founded in 1867 by the Paris Academy of Fine Arts, an annual event that quickly became the epicenter of the French art scene. Paintings were selected by a jury, whose decisions were often more political than aesthetic.

In 1863 Emperor Napoleon III himself initiated the “Salon of Rejects,” open to works turned down for the Salon. This paved the way for an independent exhibition in 1874 organized by the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs etc., a group of artists who would come to be known as the Impressionists. This is, in a nutshell, what the German show is all about.

“1863•Paris•1874: Revolution in Art,” through July 28, 2024, Wallraf Museum, Cologne,

Edinburgh, Scotland

The National Galleries of Scotland will mount a summer exhibition at the Royal Scottish Academy devoted to Irish painter Sir John Lavery (1858–1941). Though he was known for following the path of naturalist masters, the Belfast-born artist, who painted en plein air, was also influenced by Impressionism.

At the beginning of the 20th century, after joining the Glasgow School, he started traveling to North Africa, from Tangier to Morocco to Fez. Many more trips followed to Scotland, Switzerland, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Seville, Monte Carlo, and New York. The exhibition “An Irish Impressionist: Lavery on Location” (July 20–October 27) follows him on his journeys.

“An Irish Impressionist: Lavery on Location,” July 20–October 27, 2024, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh

Milan

Italy is also celebrating Impressionism. Milan’s Palazzo Reale presents “Cezanne and Renoir: From the Collections of the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangerie” (through June 30), based on 52 masterpieces from the collections of those two Paris museums. The exhibition is designed as a journey through Renoir’s and Cezanne’s most iconic portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and bathers.

“Cezanne and Renoir: From the Collections of the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangerie,” through June 30, 2024, Palazzo Reale, Milan

Rome

Simultaneously, the Historical Infantry Museum in Rome is celebrating the 150-year anniversary of French Impressionism with “Impressionists—The Dawn of Modernity” (through July 28). The exhibition features approximately 200 paintings, drawings, watercolors, sculptures, ceramics, and engravings, retracing the history of what we now know as Impressionism. Its strong suit is its selection of documentary materials (letters, photographs, books, clothing, and objects) that give a better understanding of the movement.

“Impressionists—The Dawn of Modernity,” through July 28, Historical Infantry Museum, Rome

Padua, Italy

Also, the Musée Marmottan Monet, which holds the largest collection of works by that artist (thanks to a donation made by his son Michel in 1966), has loaned Padua’s Centro Cultural Altinate/San Gaetano more than 50 works for “Monet: Masterpieces from the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris” (through July 14). These include The Train in the Snow (1875), London. Parliament, Reflections on the Thames (1905), and some works from the artist’s famous “Water Lilies” series (1917–1920).

“Monet: Masterpieces from the Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris,” through July 14, 2024, Centro Cultural Altinate/San Gaetano, Padua