Friday, December 7, through Friday, January 25
Opening Reception: Friday, December 7, 6 – 9 p.m.
Quad City Arts Center Gallery, 1715 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL
An incredible 90 works by 52 regional artists will be on display at the Quad City Arts Center Gallery from December 7 through January 25, as the venue houses the exhibition Finding Inspiration: From Monet to Matisse, boasting works by those inspired by the Figge Art Museum's current exhibit French Moderns: Monet to Matisse 1850 - 1950.
Divided by subject into four themes – Landscape, Still Life, Portraits and Figures, and the Nude – the Figge's French Moderns exhibit shows how the basic conception of artmaking changed over the course of a century. It begins with the academic painters such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and William-Adolphe Bouguereau, whose meticulous realism and traditional subjects conformed to the artistic canons of the 19th Century. It includes the generation of painters such as Jean-François Millet and Eugène Boudin, who used looser brushwork to depict less conventional subjects, among them the beaches of Normandy and peasants and their flocks in the environs of Paris. Meanwhile, the Impressionists, led by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, and Ėdouard Manet, exploded the conventions of both subject matter and style, depicting everyday scenes with bright color and expressive brushstrokes.
With Finding Inspiratrion designed as a way to further engage the art community and celebrate the Figge’s triumph in bringing this acclaimed group of masterpieces to the Quad Cities, the paintings in Quad City Arts' exhibition will be hung salon-style, with viewers invited to experience the art scene in France as it was in the 18th Century. Participating artists include: Brian Baugh, Nichole Beaver, Megan Bishop, Karen Blomme, Cathy Bolkcom, Sharon Burns-Knutson, Dorian W. Byrd, Lynda Coon, Karen Cooper, Pamela Crouch, frje Echeverria, Margaret Ertz, Emily A. Fitzpatrick, Bonnie L. Grebner, David Gregory, Denis Hagen, Pat Halverson, MaryKay Hymes, Annick Ibsen, Patricia Jean Johnson, Michael D. Kane, Holly Kimball, Nathaniel Kraft, Lee Kimball, Sheryl L. Lammers, Nancy Lindsay, Rick Lodmell, Susan Long, Joyce Mattan, Sharon Michaelsen, Rose Moore, Julie Nelson, Pam Ohnemus, Beth Peters, Dana Quick-Naig, Emily Nyquist, Vilma Packard, Elaine Rexdale, Randy Richmond, Tim Schiffer, Rowen Schussheim-Anderson, David Smith, Dan Spahn, Debora Stewart, Karen Stewart-Casper, Juliet Stock, Laura Vincent-Arnold, Olivia von Gries, Liz Wakita, Mary Wells, Ann Williams, and Bill Wohlford.
An opening reception for Finding Inspiration: From Monet to Matisse, featuring meet-and-greets with the artists and complimentary food and beverages, will be held on December 7 from 6 to 9 p.m., and the Quad City Arts Center's gallery hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, and more information is available by calling (309)793-1213 or visiting QuadCityArts.com.
