Release Date: June 23, 2006

Local Students' Paintings Inspired by CÉzanne's Masterpieces are on Display in France

Still life by Maryam Kush, Janney Elementary School, Washington, DC.
Photo by Dean Beasom, © 2006 National Gallery of Art

Washington, DC—Still lifes and landscapes by fourth and fifth graders from Janney Elementary School, Washington, DC, and Fourth Presbyterian School, Potomac, MD, are on display this summer in Aix-en-Provence, France, birthplace of renowned French artist Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). As part of “Cézanne 2006,” the centenary celebration of the death of the artist, the National Gallery of Art's Teacher, School, and Family Programs invited the students to tour the popular Cézanne in Provence exhibition at the Gallery last spring. Then the students returned to their art classes to explore further the artist’s painting techniques and to study reproductions of his paintings before creating their own works of art.

While Cézanne in Provence is on view at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence through September 17, the Washington, DC, area students’ paintings will be on display at the Cité du Livre municipal cultural center through June 26, 2006 and at the Vasarely Fondation, also in Aix-en-Provence, from July 5 through October 10, 2006. Art by students from Germany, England, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Romania, and Russia—as well as the state of Louisiana because of its French heritage will be on view, also. The exhibition, Seeing and Understanding Cézanne in the 21st Century, is organized by the Association Art, Sciences et Patrimoine en Pays d’Aix (ASPPA). The municipal center houses the local lending library, the Bibliothèque Méjanès, and various local historical collections about Aix and its history; the fondation is a center for the display and study of art by Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) but presents works by other artists as well. A selection of the students’ paintings is available in a special book, Seeing and Understanding Cézanne in the 21st Century.

GALLERY CONTACT INFORMATION

For additional information about the Gallery's education programs, visit www.nga.gov.
For information about the schools that participated in the project, contact:
Heidi Hinish
Head of Teacher, School, and Family Programs
National Gallery of Art
(202) 842-6187
h-hinish@nga.gov

The exhibition is on view through June 26 at:
Cité du Livre
Municipal Cultural Center
8-10 rue des Allumettes
Aix-en-Provence

The exhibition is also on view July 5 through October 10 at:
Fondation Vasarely
1, Avenue Marcel Pagnol
13090 Aix-en-Provence, France
www.fondationvasarely.fr

Seeing and Understanding Cézanne in the 21st Century is available for 20 euros plus shipping from:
ASPPA
1, Avenue Marcel Pagnol
13090 Aix-en-Provence, France

For more information about the international student art project:
Telephone in Provence: 00 33 4 42 52 69 24
E-Mail: asppa@wanadoo.fr
Web site: www.asppa.fr

To mark the centenary, the city of Aix-en-Provence, the Community of the Pays d’Aix and the Ministry for Culture and Communication, in partnership with the Region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and the Department of Bouches-du-Rhône, are working together to make 2006 a year of tribute to Cézanne.

Cézanne in Provence Exhibition

The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Musée Granet and the Communauté du Pays d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.

The exhibition in Washington was made possible by a generous grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.

The exhibition in Washington was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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