Provence in Montreal

You no longer have to fly to Paris and take the TGV to experience your favorite Provencal views! Until January 8, 2006 you can visit Provence at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Montreal, for the exhibition "Right under the Sun. Landscape in Provence, from Classicism to Modernism".

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You probably know the paintings Cezanne and Van Gogh did of landscapes in Provence, but did you know that they were actually following an artistic tradition? The exhibition illustrates and outlines the origins of this tradition, as well as its evolution, without forgetting to draw attention to the mediterranean light which drew the artists initially.

If you're less art-historically inclined and yet you somehow find yourself at this museum against your will, you could look for the painting of men catching tuna with their bare hands, and another of a lady carrying a pumpkin on her head.

I saw this show on a Wednesday night, when admission to the museum is half-price and the galleries are remarkably less crowded than during the day.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
1380 rue Sherbrooke Ouest
Montreal, Quebec