From Puvis de Chavannes to Matisse and Picasso

Art historians have traditionally looked to Impressionism as the source of modern art. Serge Lemione challenges this view in his catalogue to a major exhibition held at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice (10 February‐16 June 2002). He proposes that “modern art does not descend, as is commonly thought, from Manet and Impressionism, but from … the French painter Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824‐1898)”.

From Puvis de Chavannes to Matisse and Picasso – Toward Modern Art argues for a new interpretation of modern art as deriving from the influence of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes. Generally associated with Symbolism, Puvis de Chavannes...