Paris—The Terra Foundation for American Art hailed today an “American Season in Paris,” the simultaneous presentation of seven exhibitions of art of the United States, including a survey of painting in the 1930s and a retrospective of the work of Minimalist Carl Andre, throughout the French capital this fall. The foundation provided more than €280K for three of the exhibitions, as well as for an international conference in conjunction with a fourth. Tonight, the Terra Foundation will celebrate this significant focus on American art at a reception hosted by The Honorable Jane D. Hartley, Ambassador of the United States of America to France and Monaco, at her residence.
“Although this unique convergence is remarkable for the sheer number of events taking place, equally impressive is the wide variety of topics, eras, and media they represent,” explained Terra Foundation President and CEO Elizabeth Glassman. “Collectively, these exhibitions and programs demonstrate how American art is being considered broadly and in original and thought-provoking ways by French museums.”
The Terra Foundation supports the following exhibitions:
- La peinture américaine des années 1930 : “The Age of Anxiety”/American Painting in the 1930s: The Age of Anxiety (at Musée de l’Orangerie, Oct. 12, 2016–Jan. 30, 2017), which tells the story of an economically, politically, and aesthetically turbulent decade in US history through the works of artists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Grant Wood;
- La France d’Avedon : Vieux Monde, New Look/Avedon’s France: Old World, New Look (at Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Oct. 18, 2016–Feb. 26, 2017), which explores—in depth and for the first time—the photographer’s singular relationship with France from the end of World War II to the end of the twentieth century; and
- Carl Andre : Sculpture as Place, 1958–2010 (at Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Oct. 18, 2016–Feb. 12, 2017), which features iconic pieces from the artist’s most productive period, in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as more recent sculptural experiments.
The Terra Foundation is also supporting an international conference in conjunction with the exhibition The Color Line : les artistes africains-américains et la ségrégation/The Color Line: African-American Artists and Segregation (at Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac, Oct. 4, 2016–Jan. 15, 2017).
“Additionally, these exhibitions exemplify the Terra Foundation’s long-standing commitment to sharing American art with French audiences on an ongoing basis,” continued Glassman. “For instance, we awarded a grant to the Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac in 2014 for Indiens des Plaines, which afforded an unparalleled view of the aesthetic traditions of the Plains Indians, and to the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris last year on Andy Warhol Unlimited. Exhibition support is one of the ways the Terra Foundation fulfills its mission of fostering the exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States for people across the globe.”
The Terra Foundation’s presence in France began three decades ago, when founder Daniel J. Terra began planning the creation of the Musée d´Art Américain Giverny, which in 2009 became the Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny.
Also in 2009, the Terra Foundation opened the Paris Center & Library, dedicated to serving a growing international community of academics and curators, as well as the interested public. Now located in the historic Hôtel Lévis-Mirepoix, at 121 rue de Lille, the center provides a regular forum on the art and visual culture of the United States through a wide variety of lectures, workshops, and symposia. The Paris Center & Library is also the hub of the foundation’s grant programs in Europe, which includes funding for exhibitions and partnerships, academic programs, and publications, as well as visiting professorships in Berlin, Oxford, and Paris.
Other exhibitions of American art in Paris this fall are Louis Faurer (at Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sept. 9–Dec. 18, 2016); Walasse Ting : Le Voleur de Fleurs 1929–2010/Walasse Ting: The Flower Thief 1929–2010 (at Musée Cernuschi, Oct. 7, 2016 – Jan. 29, 2017); and Cy Twombly (at Centre Pompidou, Nov. 30, 2016–Apr. 24, 2017).
Terra Foundation for American Art
Established in 1978, the Terra Foundation for American Art is dedicated to fostering the exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United States. With financial resources of more than $350 million, an exceptional collection of American art from the colonial era to 1945, and an expansive grant program, it is one of the leading foundations focused on American art, supporting exhibitions, academic programs, publications, and research worldwide.
