French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection

March 2-May 11, 1952

Overview: 73 small-scale pictures were lent by Captain Edward Molyneux, the noted dress designer of London and Paris, who had collected them since 1936 to decorate his Paris apartment. Included were 17 works by Auguste Renoir, 10 by Eugène Boudin, 7 by Edouard Vuillard, and works by Pierre Bonnard, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Rouault, Henri Matisse, and other 19th- and 20th-century artists. Captain Molyneux came to Washington to arrange the installation of the pictures but had to return to France before the opening. National Gallery director John Walker later urged Ailsa Mellon Bruce to purchase this highly personal private collection en bloc for the National Gallery, and her name has been attached to it ever since.

Location: Ground Floor, Central Gallery

Catalogue: French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1952.

Other venue:

Museum of Modern Art, New York

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