| by Nicole Crites | UNTIL SEPT. 20, visitors at the Kimbell Art Museum have the opportunity to see a collection of world-famous paintings in a far range from Sandro Botticelli of the Italian Renaissance to 20th-century cubist artist Georges Braque.
"The exhibition, drawn from one of the world's finest collections of European art, will offer visitors the chance to discover new works by painters already represented in the Kimbell's own collection – artists like El Greco, Watteau and Monet," said Eric M. Lee, Kimbell director, in a press release. "Equally important is the opportunity to encounter rarely seen masterpieces by Botticelli and Vermeer, among the best-loved painters in history."
Strolling through the exhibition is comparable to being in a time machine. As you walk by each painting, from gallery to gallery, the progression of art periods through time, featuring artists from all over the world, can be seen.
Botticelli's Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child is the earliest masterpiece, made in 1490, and is the exhibit's prize piece, as this is its first time to be shown in the United States. The painting portrays a religious symbol as many of the other works from the Renaissance do in this collection. In the center gallery, grand full-length portraits of European dukes and kings stand on red walls. Many of the pieces, primarily in the earlier years, are portraits in addition to landscapes.
Seventeenth-century works by artists El Greco, Velazquez, Rembrandt and others are displayed as visitors leave the Renaissance era and enter the Baroque period. The paintings, including Velazquez's Old Woman Cooking Eggs and El Gerco's An Allegory, mostly feature individuals depicted in action with dramatic lighting. Moving forward in the gallery (and in time), brighter colors appear. The style of painting is distorted, eventually leading to Impressionism. Claude Monet's Poplars on the Epte on display is a beautiful confusion of blues and greens in an image of trees along the water. As the exhibition comes to an end, it leads to Abstract Cubism from the early 1900s. Two of Pablo Picasso's famous works are featured, Mother and Child and Guitars, Gas Jet, and Bottle, as well as Braque's Candlestick, which is a particular highlight of the collection.
Lee said that last summer's Matsuri: A Samurai Celebration was such an overwhelming success that the Kimbell decided to do an annual summer festival that coincides with its highlighted exhibition.
