Modern Paris: A Century Begins

At the dawn of the 20^th century, Paris was a magnet for artists from around the world. They exchanged ideas, challenged conventions and fostered imaginative innovation that shifted the trajectory of visual art. Modern Paris: A Century Begins presents more than 50 paintings, prints and sculptures to explore this dynamic period. The exhibition highlights Marion Koogler McNay as the Museum’s founding collector. It showcases a range of artists, including Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Berthe Morisot, Pablo Picasso, Chaïm Soutine and Vincent van Gogh.

The exhibition celebrates the creativity sparked by this spirit of collaboration, opening with Alfred Sisley’s The Route from Saint-Germain to Marly, which was featured in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. From there, visitors can trace the evolution of modern art through works by Paul Cézanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The exhibition also explores the rise of Fauvism and Cubism, where artists challenged what they saw as the limitations of Impressionism, experimenting with more radical approaches to color and form.

Among the highlights is Picasso’s Guitar and Wine Glass (1912), an inventive collage featuring wallpaper, a newspaper clipping, sheet music, a wine glass drawing and paper that mimics the shape and woodgrain of a guitar. The exhibition also explores the creative exchange between visual and performing arts through Matisse’s costume design for Le Chant du Rossignol and Picasso’s maquette for Le Tricorne, from the McNay’s Tobin Collection of Theatre Arts.