Vincent Van Gogh in a letter from Paris to his friend Horace Mann Livens in 1886 said: “Paris is Paris, there is but one Paris and however hard living may be here… the French air clears up the brain and does one good.” Similar words have been spoken many times by countless artists past and present. “The Dutch in Paris, 1789-1914” —an exhibition at the Petit Palais—revisits the Paris sejours of nine Dutch artists attracted to Paris tracing their interactions with “La Ville-Lumière” (to May 13, 2018).
Paris was the center of the art world in the 19th century. Between 1789 and 1914, hundreds of artists from the Netherlands travelled to France’s capital, among them Johan Jongkind, George Hendrik Breitner, Vincent van Gogh, Kees van Dongen, and Piet Mondrian. Their interactions with French artists and encounters with a great diversity of art, styles and techniques profoundly impacted their approach and ideas about art. Upon their return, these artists spread new insights in the Netherlands, but also left their own impact on Paris.
The Dutch in Paris, 1789-1914 Van Gogh, Van Dongen, Mondrian…” to May 13, 2018 at the Petit Palais.