Twelve Impressionist masterpieces, reunited for the first time since leaving the artist's studio.

In the small French village of Vétheuil, west of Paris, Claude Monet began to sense the power of a place as it changed over a day, over a year. Monet at Vétheuil takes us into the painter's life as he observed and interpreted qualities of light and atmosphere.

For the first time anywhere, the University of Michigan Museum of Art examines the crucial point in Monet's career when the artist began to experiment with multiple views of the same scene. With the Débâcles series showing the sudden thawing of the frozen Seine river in the winter of 1880, Monet achieved this breakthrough in the midst of personal trials.

A portrait, profound in its simplicity, of Monet's wife on her deathbed makes its North American debut in Monet at Vétheuil. We encounter the artist under grief's spell, painting a still life of dead game birds unlike anything else in his body of work. Then Monet began to focus intensely on the Seine river at Vétheuil, west of Paris, and painted scenes of the river and town over and over. Exploring nuances of light and color, Monet embarked on the course that he would follow for the rest of his life.

The twelve works on view in Monet at Vétheuil come together at Michigan for the first time since leaving the artist's studio. On loan from museums around the world, they illuminate one of Impressionism's defining moments. Monet at Vétheuil is an unprecedented exhibition, a powerful emotional experience, and an indispensable destination for anyone who has ever admired a painting by Claude Monet.

This exhibition, organized by the Museum of Art, is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the arts and the Humanities. From Ann Arbor, the show travesl to Dallas and Minnepolis.

Admission is free to the Museum, but the Monet exhibition is a ticketed event. Ticket prices are as follows: $6 (general admission); $3 (U-M faculty and staff; and all senior citizens); free to Museum Friends, U-M students and children under 12.

To purchase tickets, phone 1-800-585-3737.

Museum Hours:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday, 10 a.m.- 5p.m.
Thursday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.