Museums in Paris: Fondation Custodia

When you hear the words Dutch Impressionism, what is your initial reaction?

Perhaps your initial reaction is the same as ours:  I didn't know the Dutch were Impressionists.  

Well, the 10 Year Plan has the advantage of teaching us something almost every day.  The other day, we learned about Dutch Impression by visiting a small museum recommended by a friend.

The Fondation Custodia is a museum in the 7th arrondissement founded in 1947 by a wealthy Dutch art collector living in Paris, Frits Lugt.  The museum is housed in the collector's former home, the very large Hôtel Turgot, a mansion from the 1700's.

The museum usually features Old Master paintings but is temporarily exhibiting a collection of paintings by Dutch Impressionist Willem Bastiaan Tholen (1860-1931).  (You can read about Tholen's life by clicking here.)

We viewed the collection and were impressed with some of Tholen's paintings.  Many of the paintings were typically Dutch--dark, hyper-accurate depictions of Dutch life and Dutch landscape.  Some of the paintings, however, departed from that tradition and crossed into Impressionism.  

Below is a photographic tour of the temporary exhibition.  We hope you enjoy some of the paintings. 

 

 

(The photograph above is in focus.  The artist depicted the scene in filmy haze.)

In addition to oil painting, Tholen was also skilled in watercolor and drawing.

The sketch above became the painting below.

 

One favorite painting in the exhibition is pictured below, a lovely autumn scene that is Impressionist yet lifelike.

Thanks for visiting the Fondation Custodia with us.  Dutch Impressionism, who knew?

Beauty descending a staircase by Jean-Claude (2019)