Adolphe Monticelli exhibition: the former bishopric of Uzès gives pride of place to the precursor of impressionism
Former bishopric of Uzès
From June 22 to October 13, 2024
The irresistible charm of Uzès, the first duchy of France, offers an exceptional setting to honor one of the masters of 19th century painting, {11 }Adolphe Monticelli. In this year which celebrates the bicentenary of his birth, the Episcopal Palace welcomes around fifty masterpieces by this virtuoso and visionary artist. A remarkable colorist appreciated for his Fêtes Galantes of the 1860s, Monticelli apprehended at the end of his life a new way of painting, powerful and expressive, mishandling the paint, working in thick strokes with incomparable enthusiasm, erasing the line until it bordered on the 'abstraction.
How can we not think of Cézanne or Van Gogh while admiring the power of his impasto, the daring of his palette, the treatment of light? His translation of the colors of the South fascinated Van Gogh, who traveled to Provence in the master's footsteps, to "continue his work, like his son or his brother". Verlaine will regret not having met the painter: "to ask him to [lui] lend his eyes and [lui] tell his dreams", Oscar Wilde will struggle to part with one of his paintings, Marcel Proust will compare his genius to that of El Greco... With this exceptional retrospective, “this flower crusher” dear to Montesquiou today finds recognition and a setting worthy of the splendor of his masterpieces in this historic palace in Uzès.{15 }
"Today closes the exhibition [du Salon d’Automne] that of all I would have liked to see of the two painters with whom I am most in love: Greco and Monticelli."
Marcel Proust
FORMER BISHOPHOUSE OF UZÈS
From June 22 to October 13, 2024
1 place de l’Évêché, 30700 Uzès
