Impressions of Light: Masterpieces from MuMa – Le Havre and The Bowes Museum

A major international partnership with the Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux (MuMa), Le Havre, brings Impressionist masterpieces from France, never-before-seen in the UK, to The Bowes Museum, County Durham. Tracing the evolution of landscape painting from Pre-Impressionism to Post-Impressionism, Impressions of Light explores how artists captured landscapes through light, colour and atmosphere.  

Works by Claude Monet (1840–1926), Eugène Boudin (1824–1898), Gustave Courbet (1819–1877), Camille Pissarro (1830 –1903) and Raoul Dufy (1877-1953) bring to light the artistic innovation and emotional depth that transformed modern art. Presented in themed groupings that echo the coast, cliffs, moorland and dales surrounding the museum, the exhibition connects French visions of light and place to the landscapes of County Durham. 

Deeply connected to France’s art scene, founders Joséphine (1825 – 1874) and John Bowes (1811 – 1885) collected works by living French artists, an unusual approach in the UK at the time. A painter herself, Joséphine was influenced by the en plein air approach of pre-Impressionist painters, and the couple’s frequent travels to Le Havre, whose town hall inspired The Bowes Museum’s design, reflect their enduring ties to the birthplace of Impressionism. 

Bringing together world-class loans from MuMa and The Bowes Museum’s collection, Impressions of Light is a journey through artistic vision, cultural exchange and landscape’s enduring power to move and inspire. 

Presented by The Bowes Museum and MuMa – Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux, Le Havre.