Presentation

Claude Monet, Impression, soleil levant, 1872, musée Marmottan-Monet. Credit: Musee Marmottan, Paris, France / Giraudon / The Bridgeman Art Library Nationality / copyright status: French / out of copyright Monet, Impression, soleil levant, 1872, musée Marmottan-Monet.

From June to September 2010, the Impressionist Normandy Festival, which will celebrate Impressionism throughout Upper and Lower Normandy, promises to be the major cultural event of Summer 2010. Initiated under Laurent Fabius and numerous governmental authorities, including the Regional governments of Upper and Lower Normandy, the counties of Seine-Maritime and Eure, the Cities of Rouen and Caen, with the support of major businesses, this multidisciplinary celebration is on an unprecedented scale for France. For the public, it will be the perfect opportunity to discover the exceptional cultural heritage and all the creative talent of Normandy, homeland of the Impressionist movement.

Several festivities, whether directly linked to Impressionism and its time or perpetuating its avant-garde spirit, are being designed to enchant residents, summer visitors, fans, and art amateurs from all corners of the world.
Painting, contemporary art, music, cinema, theatre, dance, photography, video, literature, lectures, light and sound, picnics in the spirit of déjeuners sur l’herbe, outdoor balls, and more: the Impressionist Normandy Festival is as rich as it is diverse. It offers a programme which is open to everyone and to all forms of artistic expression.

Heading up the festival will be the much awaited exhibition, “Une ville pour ’Impressionnisme: Monet, Pissarro, Gauguin à Rouen” (“A City for Impressionism: Monet, Pissarro, Gauguin in Rouen”). The Rouen Fine Arts Museum will present a number of outstanding works from public and private collections all over the world. Many are masterpieces which have never been exhibited in France.

Other major cultural sites in Normandy will illustrate the diversity of the Impressionist theme via its origins, its major sites, or its practices: Boudin and Jongkind at the Honfleur Museum; Millet at the Thomas Henry Museum in Cherbourg; Renoir and Pissarro at the Castle-Museum in Dieppe; Corot at the Saint-Lô Fine Arts Museum; Impressionist prints at the Caen Fine Arts Museum: Riesener at the Lisieux Museum; Degas and Signac at the Malraux Museum in Le Havre; the Seine at the Impressionism Museum in Giverny. The Fonds “Peindre en Normandie” (“Painting in Normandy” Collection) will also present a prestigious selection of works in Honfleur and Grand Quevilly.

Because the Impressionist movement was so richly varied, this celebration covers a broad spectrum of creative expression from Impressionism through to the most contemporary forms today: music (concerts around Debussy, Ravel, Satie); Photography (double exhibition of Maxence Rifflet at the”Dawn” Art Centre, Cherbourg and at Upper Normandy Image Centre in Rouen); contemporary art (exhibition in homage to déjeuner sur l’herbe at the Frac Haute-Normandie; installation at Jumièges Abbey; video art at the Hôtel du Département de Seine Maritime in Rouen; light shows and illuminations at Rouen Cathedral and at Rouen fine Arts Museum, cinema, theatre, and live performances.

Dozens of cultural projects will soon be added to the Festival’s programme. In response to the call for participation last spring, more than 160 projects, each as amazing and tantalizing as the next, were submitted. Those selected by the Scholarly Committee of Impressionist Normandy will receive a special mention. The range of choices is already very promising.

In view of the Impressionist Painters’ fascination with Norman landscapes, the celebration will also offer light projections onto monuments, pyrotechnical displays, cruises and boat rides on the Seine, picnics and outdoor luncheons in the spirit of déjeuner sur l’herbe, Impressionist itineraries, and many other outdoor activities, all of which will add to its touristic, popular, and festive character.

Initiated by the Greater Rouen Urban Community Government, the Impressionist Normandy Festival federates a large group of governmental authorities: the Regional governments of Upper and Lower Normandy; the Counties of Seine-Maritime and Eure; the Cities of Rouen and Caen, as well as numerous other communities and urban centers. The association responsible for the implementation of this great project is headed by prominent cultural personalities. These include the festival’s President, Pierre Bergé; the President of the Scholarly Committee, Jérôme Clément, who is also President of Arte France; and General Commissioner, Jacques-Sylvain Klein (art historian, author of La Normandie: berceau de l’Impressionnisme (“Normandy, Cradle of Impressionism”). The Festival also benefits from the support of large businesses. Powered by this dynamic, the festival promises to be an exceptional celebration in keeping with the spirit of a fascinating and illustrious artistic movement.

Impressionist Normandy encompasses the entire territory of two separate regions (Upper and Lower Normandy) and as such, is an unprecedented initiative in France. The event will take place simultaneously in dozens of cities, towns, and villages. The main Norman institutions, as well as numerous other public and private partners, will be associated with the festival. In addition to the desire to bring together an entire geographical area, the fact of multiple locations also illustrates the precedent established by the painters’ own penchant to wander through the countryside in search of new subjects to paint. Certain exhibitions will be sent to other countries and thus will act as "ambassadors” for Normandy.