Exhibition catalogue - The spectacular art of Jean-Léon Gérôme

Exhibition catalogue "The spectacular art of Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904)" held at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, June 15-Sept. 12, 2010; the Musee d’Orsay, Paris, Oct. 19, 2010-Jan. 23, 2011; and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Mar. 1-May 22, 2011.

His brilliantly painted and often provocative pictures were at the center of heated debates over the present and future of the great French painting tradition. Reproduced using brand new photomechanical processes and dispersed across Europe and America, Gérôme's images indelibly marked the popular imagination, directly influencing spectacular forms of mass entertainment, from theater to film.

Through most of the 20th century, however, Gérôme's critical reputation was tarnished by his alleged commercialism and his stubborn opposition to the triumphant avant-garde movements of Impressionism and Postimpressionism. The first comprehensive exhibition of his work in almost 40 years, this exhibition offers the opportunity to reconsider the variety and complexity of Gérôme's masterful oeuvre.

> Exhibition details on ArtActu.com