2011 12 17 - NMS - Dreams and Reality: Masterpieces of Painting, Drawing and Photography from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris

From the collection of the world renowned Musée d’Orsay, over 140 Salon, Realists, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists paintings, photographs and drawings from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century will specially tour to Singapore this year. Titled Dreams and Reality: Masterpieces of Painting, Drawing and Photography from the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, the exhibition explores the reaction of man towards modernity at the turn of the century from 1848 to 1912. The changing social and industrial landscapes of Paris in early modernity forced artists and photographers to rethink their approach to the visual world around them. Their varied responses generated new ways of depicting reality and a proliferation of styles.

Highlights of the exhibition include Paul Cézanne’s The Card Players,  Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night and Alexandre Cabanel’s The Birth of Venus. Many other key works by forerunners of modern art such as Gustave Courbet, Edgar Degas, Jean-François Millet as well as female Impressionists Berthe Morisot, Marie Bracquemond and Eva Gonzalès will also be showcased. A portrait of Georges Clemenceau by Édouard Manet will travel exclusively to Singapore.