Déjà Vu? Revealing Repetition in French Masterpieces

Why do painters repeat themselves? What did repetition mean within the Academic tradition? How do the motivations for repetition change in the modern period?

This exhibition will explore these questions through more than 60 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and bronze sculptures by David, Ingres, Delacroix, Monet, Degas, Cezanne, Matisse, and others. The motivations for painting in series will be distinguished from earlier traditions in which the concept of repetition was uncomplicated by modern anxieties over originality. Special conservation analysis will investigate questions of materials and techniques, determine the sequence of replicas if unknown, and address lingering questions of attribution when possible.