Aside from the exorbitant record prices of recent years and decades, what influence has Impressionism had on contemporary art? In spite of all the differences in terms of style and technique, artists are just as fascinated by light and movement as they always were. The Museum Langmatt is exhibiting masterpieces of French Impressionism from the collection in dialogue with prominent positions in international and Swiss contemporary art. When they are placed directly side-by-side, surprising similarities can be seen between the two epochs.

Impressionism as a stylistic concept is part of art history, but its focus on surfaces, and its exploration of light and of immaterial lucidity, are more relevant than ever. In an era in which we are virtually flooded with sensory stimulation, the buried legacy of Impressionism is re-emerging in a changed form in a significant area of contemporary art. The arresting of fleeting and immaterial phenomena such as light and movement, and the uncovering of their secret through the “immobile” medium of painting, is the fascinating paradox that exists both in Impressionist art and in certain areas of contemporary art. Photography, with its attachment to the moment and its sectional quality, is revealed as a mainstay across the epochs. It was of critical importance to the development of Impressionism, and, today, these two media have become so closely intertwined that painting without photography is almost inconceivable.

In the exhibition Langmatt, Light, Dragonflies, masterpieces of Impressionism by Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley are exhibited side-by-side with works of contemporary art by Anna Amadio, Michael Biberstein, Emmanuelle Castellan, Elger Esser, El Frauenfelder, Marcel Gähler, Alain Huck, Ute Klein, Thierry Perriard, David Schnell, Julia Steiner, and Robert Zandvliet. What they have in common is a constant interest in light and movement. The spectrum of techniques ranges from painting and drawing to photography and sculptural and installation work. In order to facilitate comparison with the Impressionist artworks, the exhibition emphasises painting. Alongside significant artistic positions from various parts of Switzerland, those originating in France, Holland, and Germany are represented.

Text Markus Stegmann

Catalogue by Verlag Hatje Cantz