How They Got Here: Provenance Tales of Three French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art

Have you ever wondered how an artwork ends up in a museum? Provenance, or the history of an object’s ownership, can offer us a fascinating insight into the social environment in which art is made, sold, collected, displayed, valued—and sometimes stolen. Margaret Doyle, head of Curatorial Records at the National Gallery of Art will join us at the Whatcom Museum to recount the twists and turns in the journeys of three paintings by Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, and Henri Matisse, from their creation in France to their final stop as part of the National Gallery’s permanent collection in Washington, DC. The provenances of these paintings include a memorable set of characters and situations, with stories encompassing artistic friendship, influential French dealers, notable women collectors, a prominent American statesman, and Nazi confiscation and postwar restitution.

This talk is made possible by the National Gallery’s “Across the Nation” program, which is sharing cherished works with regional 10 regional museums around the United States, including ours. These paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse are on view now in Verdant: French Masterworks from the National Gallery of Art.

This event is free to attend, but advance registration is required.