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Listen to our latest podcast episode featuring Mary Morton, Curator and Head of the Department of French Paintings, and Kimberly Jones, Curator of 19th Century French Paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Together, they discuss their work on the landmark exhibition, Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment, and the accompanying exhibition catalogue.

The conversation centers on the daring spirit of the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, a moment that saw artists defy the prestigious Paris Salon to showcase new ways of capturing modern life. Jones and Morton share insights into the forces behind Impressionism's revolutionary appeal, from the political and social upheavals in France to the transformation of Paris under Haussmannization. They explain how these changes inspired artists to redefine not only the subjects they painted but also how art itself was exhibited and experienced.

“You can talk about things like style and subject and that's a part of it, but my biggest takeaway is how these artists are reclaiming control in a very powerful, forceful, and undeniable way.”

– Kimberly Jones

Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment is on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. through January 19, 2025.

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About the Curators

Mary Morton has been curator and head of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art since 2010. She previously served as associate curator of paintings at the J. Paul Getty Museum (2004–2010) and associate curator of European art at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Houston (1998–2004). In 2018, Morton was awarded the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by France's Ministry of Culture. Morton received her PhD from Brown University (1998), concentrating on 19th- and early 20th-century European painting. She also holds a BA in history from Stanford University (1987).

Kimberly A. Jones has been curator of nineteenth-century French paintings at the National Gallery of Art since 2016. A former museum fellow at the Musée national du château de Pau (1990–1991) and the Musée d'Orsay, Paris (1993–1994), she joined the curatorial staff of the National Gallery of Art in 1995 as assistant curator of French paintings. Jones holds a PhD and MA from the University of Maryland with specialization in 19th-century European and American art, as well as a dual degree in art history and studio art from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College).

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Listen to our latest podcast episode featuring Diana Seave Greenwald, curator of the exhibition Manet: A Model Family at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and editor of the associated catalogue, published by Princeton University Press.

Manet: A Model Family offers a fascinating look at the personal life and family relationships that shaped one of art history's most influential painters. Greenwald, Curator of the Collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, reveals how Édouard Manet's complex family dynamics—including his relationship with his mother, his marriage to his brothers' piano teacher, and his role as godfather to her son—influenced his artistic development and provided him with willing models for his groundbreaking works.

“For all the ink spent on Manet's engagement with other artists and time in cafes and he's a bohemian and he's this charming guy and he's a luminary of this moment in Paris, his family was important to him. And it's in the visual record.”

– Diana Seave Greenwald

Diana Seave Greenwald is an art historian and economic historian. An expert in 19th century American and French art, she is currently William & Lia Poorvu curator of the collection of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Prior to joining the Gardner, Diana was an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., working in the departments of American and British Paintings and Modern Prints and Drawings. She received a D.Phil. in History from the University of Oxford. Before doctoral study, Diana earned an M.Phil. in Economic and Social History from Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Columbia University.

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

Order the book here

Learn more about the podcast Reading the Art World here.

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Listen to our latest podcast episode featuring Gary Garrels, curator and editor of Willem de Kooning and Italy, published by Marsilio Arte, distributed internationally by Artbook D.A.P. The associated exhibition is on view at Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia through September 15, 2024.

Willem de Kooning and Italy is the first monograph to expand upon the artist’s two impactful trips to Italy: in the fall of 1959 and in the summer of 1969. These two chapters in de Kooning’s life and career, as reflected in the development of his work from the end of the ’50s to his last works of the ’80s. In addition to essays by the two curators and editors, Gary Garrels and Mario Codognato, this beautifully illustrated catalogue includes contributions from the art historians Jeremy Bleeke, Ester Coen, Anna Coliva and Patrick Elliott.

"De Kooning, unlike so many of the abstract expressionists, was not interested in just rupture, but in continuity. A lot of the abstract expressionists had disdain for tradition and history—wanted to reinvent art and painting. But de Kooning was very steeped in the history and tradition. So he was always looking to the past and was aware of the whole, especially the European tradition of painting.”

– Gary Garrels

Gary Garrels is a highly respected and influential curator for more than thirty-five years at major museums in the United States, including: Dia Art Foundation, New York, Director of Programmes, 1987-1991; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Senior Curator, 1991-1993; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 1993-2000; Museum of Modern Art, New York, Chief Curator, Department of Drawings and Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, 2000-2005; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Exhibitions and Public Programmes, 2005-2008; and again at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture, 2008- 2020. He is currently an independent curator living and working in New York, focused on projects of special interest.

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

Order the book here

Learn more about the podcast Reading the Art World here.

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Listen to our latest podcast episode featuring Richard Shiff, art historian and author of Writing after Art, published by David Zwirner Books.

Richard Shiff’s book is an expansive anthology of his most influential writings, many of which have shaped the art world’s understanding of 20th and 21st century artists. Throughout our conversation, Richard illuminates how he comes to observe and understand an artist's work in a way that can inspire us to do the same more thoughtfully.

"Writing is certainly itself an art. And critical writing that is probing, rather than mirroring art, is a kind of aesthetic exercise in itself, and it should stand aside the art as a kind of parallel, or as a collaborative venture that's like the other side. It's thought that becomes explicitly expressed rather than transient. It’s put down and it's permanent.”
– Richard Shiff

Richard Shiff is the Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Art at The University of Texas at Austin. His interests range broadly across the field of modern and contemporary art. His publications include Barnett Newman: A Catalogue Raisonné (coauthored, 2004), Doubt (2008), Between Sense and de Kooning (2011), Ellsworth Kelly: New York Drawings 1954–1962 (2014), Joel Shapiro: Sculpture and Works on Paper 1969–2019 (2020), and Sensuous Thoughts: Essays on the Work of Donald Judd (2020). He is currently completing a comprehensive study of the art of Jack Whitten.

Writing after Art includes essays on a wide range of prominent artists, many of whom are featured in current exhibitions around the world. 

• Willem de Kooning - Gallerie dell'Accademia

• Peter Doig - Group exhibition at Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich

• Jasper Johns - San Diego Museum of Art

• Donald Judd - Gagosian in Basel

• Ellsworth Kelly - Cahiers D'Art and Art Institute Chicago

• Julie Mehretu - recently unveiled BMW Art Car collab, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia upcoming exhibition

• Bridget Riley - SCAD

• Richard Serra -Longleaf Art Park 

• Zeng Fanzhi - LACMA in Venice

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

Order the book here

Learn more about the podcast Reading the Art World here.

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Listen to our latest podcast episode featuring Eva Respini, curator and editor of Simone Leigh, published by DelMonico Books in association with the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston.

Eva Respini’s book, and our conversation, offers a deep dive into the groundbreaking work of contemporary artist Simone Leigh, whose multidimensional artistry challenges conventions, and sparks meaningful conversations about race, gender, and identity.

“Because when I started looking around and doing more research, I realized that she hadn't had a museum survey exhibition, and there had been no book, no monograph published. And this to me seemed shocking for an artist that not only was so hyper visible in this moment in New York, in our little bubble of an art world, but also someone who was so confident in her practice, and had an artistic and aesthetic language that was very mature and very complex.”
– Eva Respini

Respini served as the Curator and Co-Commissioner for the 2022 US Pavilion’s presentation of Simone Leigh at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. It marked the first time a Black woman represented the United States at the Biennale, and Leigh won the 2022 Golden Lion for her groundbreaking work. Eva Respini is currently Deputy Director and Director of Curatorial Programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The traveling exhibition, Simone Leigh, organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston and Eva Respini, opens at LACMA and the California African American Museum on Sunday, May 26th. The exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of the richly layered work of this celebrated artist.

Listen to this podcast on Spotify and Apple

Order the book here

Learn more about the podcast Reading the Art World here.