Largest-Ever Corporate Grant for an Exhibition Brings Extraordinary Impressionist Show to SAM
Impressionism: Paintings Collected by European Museums
June 12-Aug. 29, 1999
SEATTLE, March 22, 1999 - With the largest corporate grant for an exhibition in its 66-year history-$500,000 from U S WEST-the Seattle Art Museum will bring paintings from the world's most recognized Impressionists to the Pacific Northwest this summer.
Impressionism: Paintings Collected by European Museums is the largest and most diverse exhibition of Impressionist paintings ever presented in the region. The unprecedented support by U S WEST, and other corporate and private funders, is enabling the presentation of 60 works by such masters as Monet, Cézanne, Degas, Renoir and Van Gogh, loaned by European museums from Scotland to Hungary.
The exhibition, which will be on view June 12-Aug.
29, 1999, could draw more than 200,000 visitors to SAM's Special Exhibition Galleries-on a par with Leonardo Lives, which in late 1997 became the most-visited exhibition since SAM's downtown opening and helped generate $15.5 million in business activity in King County.
"Having such a superb exhibition on view is a boon to the entire community, and wouldn't be possible without the community's support," says Mimi Gardner Gates, SAM's Illsley Ball Nordstrom Director. "The ability to successfully present high quality exhibitions speaks not only to SAM's support but also to Seattle's growing stature as a regional arts center."
"A rich cultural life is important to any thriving community, and Impressionism is sure to be a highlight of the summer in Seattle," says Scott McClellan, U S WEST vice president for Washington. "U S WEST is proud to be partnering with the Seattle Art Museum to bring this world-class exhibition to the Northwest and continue our 100-year tradition of community giving."
Impressionism is the first comprehensive exhibition of late 19th-early 20th century European masterworks to be on view in the Northwest, and the first time many of these paintings have traveled to the U.S. A collaboration of the Seattle Art Museum, Atlanta's High Museum and the Denver Museum of Art, Impressionism will make its only West Coast stop at SAM following its presentation in Atlanta Feb. 23-March 16, 1999.