The Art of the Louvre’s Tuileries Garden

Jun 14, 2014 – Sep 21, 2014

Paris comes to the Park Blocks in summer 2014 with this international exhibition celebrating the Tuileries Garden. This stunning exhibition explores the art, design, and evolution of Paris’ most famous garden. It also celebrates garden designer André Le Nôtre (1613–1700)—best known for his grand perspectives and symmetry at the chateaux gardens of Versailles.

The Tuileries, which stretches from the Louvre to the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, was originally created in 1564 in the Italian style and became the city’s first public park in 1667. Created at the behest of Queen Catherine de’ Medici, the garden was designed to enhance the Tuileries Palace, which was destroyed by fire in the 1871 uprising known as the Paris Commune.

Originally, the garden was reserved exclusively for royalty, but starting in the late 17th century, it became increasingly accessible to the public. Art has played a critical role in the history of the Tuileries Garden. Its beauty has inspired generations of artists, and it has also functioned as an outdoor museum, with works from the classical to the contemporary dotting its vast grounds. This major exhibition will present more than 100 sculptures, paintings, photographs, and drawings by some of the most acclaimed European and American artists from the 17th to the 20th centuries, including works by Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and others who have taken inspiration from the iconic Parisian landmark. Visitors will also see monumental sculpture by Coysevox and Bosio from the garden for the first time in the United States.

Special exhibition programming will include lectures with international scholars, en plein air painting in the Park Blocks, family activities, tours of parks, and more.

This special exhibition is co-organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, the Toledo Museum of Art, and the Portland Art Museum, with the special collaboration of the Musée du Louvre and the Musée Carnavalet Histoire de Paris. Host curated by Bruce Guenther, chief curator and The Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Sponsors

PRESENTING SPONSOR: Laura S. Meier. LEAD SPONSORS: Nani S. Warren / The Warren Foundation; Anonymous. MAJOR SPONSORS: Anne & James Crumpacker Family / Elizabeth Pownall Swindells Family Fund of OCF Walter C. Hill and Family Foundation The Mark Family Nancie S. McGraw Prudence M. Miller Andrée H. Stevens Bettina and Donald L. Bryant, Jr. SPONSORS: The Clark Foundation Cyndy and Ed Maletis Dorothy Lemelson Lisa and Shawn Mangum Oregon Arts Commission TriMet Total Wine & More Anonymous SUPPORTERS: The Acorn Fund of the OCF Katherine and Mark Frandsen Janet and Richard Geary Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation Kathleen Lewis Dolorosa and David Margulis Shirley Papé Lois Schnitzer Susan and Jim Winkler All Classical Portland Marc A. Franklin European and American Art Council of the Portland Art Museum Gamblin Artist's Oil Colors Selby and Douglas Key Christopher Forbes Delta Air Lines MEDIA SPONSORS: KGW KINK fm The Oregonian EXHIBITION SERIES SPONSORS The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Meyer Memorial Trust The Collins Foundation The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation William G. Gilmore Foundation The Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund Exhibition Series Supporters Maribeth Collins Exhibition Endowment Fund Sharon and Keith Barnes Pat and Trudy Ritz Arlene Schnitzer / The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation Larry and Jane Viehl The Standard Mary C. Becker Flowerree Foundation The Wheeler Foundation Oregon Arts Commission The Regional Arts & Culture Council Work for Art Anonymous (2) Virtual Information Executives GridBox Media Portland Monthly NW Natural Ziba Design EDUCATION SPONSORS: KeyBank Ray Hickey Foundation Wes and Nancy Lematta Fund of the OCF U.S. Bank/U.S. Bancorp Foundation The Lamb Baldwin Foundation William H. and Mary L. Bauman Foundation Louis and Virginia Clemente Foundation, Inc. PGE Foundation