In the 1960s, Philip and Janice Levin began collecting Impressionist paintings. Mrs. Levin later extended the scope of the collection to include sculpture, as well as works by the foremost painters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In addition to tracing the personal taste of a single individual, An Impressionist Eye offered an absorbing look into the most fertile period in nineteenth-century European art. Paintings by the Impressionists Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, along with works by the intimistes Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, and sculptures by the early twentieth-century masters Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso, among others, revealed the stylistic innovations that shaped the art of that time and laid the foundation for the development of modern art.

An Impressionist Eye concentrated on work created during the last three decades of the nineteenth century and underscored Mrs. Levin’s attraction to often atypical examples of a particular artist’s work. From Corot and Boudin to Toulouse-Lautrec and Modigliani, the exhibition presented extraordinary paintings and sculptures that offer a glimpse into an exciting and influential period. Published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the catalogue, titled The Janice H. Levin Collection of French Art, includes an essay and entries on each painting by Richard Shone, author of books on Manet and the Post-Impressionists.

Exhibition Itinerary: The Birmingham Museum of Art (February 1–April 11, 2004); the Nevada Museum of Art (April 23–July 18, 2004); the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (August 8–October 24, 2004); the Grand Rapids Art Museum (November 5, 2004–January 30, 2005); the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (February 18–May 15, 2005); the Taft Museum of Art (June 10–August 28, 2005); the Faulconer Gallery (September 30–December 11, 2005); and the Vero Beach Museum (January 28–April 23, 2006).