Next month, the Clark Art Institute opens Monet | Kelly, a highly anticipated exhibition that will explore the ways in which Claude Monet’s body of work has influenced the art of Ellsworth Kelly.
Monet, the late impressionist painter, has undoubtedly influenced countless artists, and leading contemporary American artist Ellsworth Kelly is no exception. Monet | Kelly is the first exhibition that considers the influence of Monet on Kelly’s impressive body of work, and one that celebrates the extraordinary vision of both artists. It will focus primarily on the motifs and sites that inspired Monet’s famous paintings in relation to Kelly’s contemporary approach, explains the Clark Art Institute.
Detail of Bordighera by Claude Monet, 1884. Image: Martin Beek via Flickr CC.
Tableau Vert by Ellsworth Kelly, 1952. Image: rocor via Flickr CC.
According to ArtfixDaily, “The works in the exhibition were selected by Kelly and include two paintings and eighteen unpublished drawings by the artist, together with nine paintings by Money from his Belle-Ile series and of his garden in Giverny,” of what visitors can expect to find within this incredible exhibition. Monet | Kelly will feature some of the most highly regarded pieces of art in the world, all in one room.
“The Clark is one of only a handful of institutions globally with a dual mission as an art museum and a distinguished center for research and higher education, dedicated to advancing and extending the public understanding of art,” the Institute’s mission statement reads in part. Monet | Kelly is made possible with the generous support of Denise Littlefield Sobel, Agnes Gund, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, and Emily Rauh Putlizer, and is very much in line with the Institute’s ongoing mission to not only present art, but to further the dialogue surrounding it. “Monet | Kelly is the result of Ellsworth Kelly’s extraordinary vision,” explains Museum Director Michael Conforti. “It has been a marvelous opportunity for the Clark to work with Mr. Kelly and the exhibition will give audiences the opportunity to see these works through his perspectives as both curator and artist.”
Ellsworth Kelly was once quoted as saying, “Monet’s last paintings had a great influence on me, and even though my work doesn’t look like his, I feel I want the spirit to be the same.” See for yourself at Monet | Kelly next month at the Clark Art Institute.
Monet | Kelly
Opens November 23, 2014
The Clark Art Institute
Williamstown, Massachusetts