Reflections of the Seine -- Gallery Collection Release

Saturday, September 14th, 2024

The Erin Hanson Gallery // McMinnville, Oregon

You are invited to join us for an art exhibition celebrating 150 years of impressionism. This collection was inspired by contemporary impressionist Erin Hanson's journey to France to retrace the steps of her artistic forefathers. 

To fully appreciate the scope of this new collection, one must look back to the dawn of impressionism in 1872. The first official painting of the movement was Monet's Impression, Sunrise (1872), which was included in the "Exhibition of the Impressionists" in Paris in April 1874. The first impressionist exhibition showcased artists, including historical greats Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley, and Cezanne. These artists were summarily shunned by the media, and their paintings were scorned as mere "impressions."

The Post-Impressionism movement was also predominately based out of France and ran from roughly 1886 to 1905. The key players within the Post-impressionist era (Seurat, Gauguin, and van Gogh) bucked tradition even further with their thick application of paint and inclination to emphasize color and forms. By the turn of the century, impressionism had spread to the far reaches of the world, from the cold reaches of Canada (The Group of Seven) to California's Monterey Peninsula (Early California works). Even Russian impressionists captured their own lyrical interpretations of life. Impressionism had spread globally.

Almost 100 years later, a new artist picked up her brush and was inspired to paint in the style of impressionism following an experience at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. Erin Hanson's first experience with impressionism came during a school field trip where the class saw van Gogh's painting Irises (1889). A few days later, while gardening with her mother, she realized with some surprise that the real irises in her garden were not as beautiful as the ones she had witnessed on the walls of the Getty. The wheels started to turn. 

From 2007 to the present, Erin Hanson has focused on creating a new brand of impressionism. Inspired by van Gogh, Monet, light, nature, and color, Hanson has painted over 3,000 works in the style of what she has dubbed Open Impressionism. Her collectors and fans now span the globe, and her works adorn the walls of private collectors, corporate collections, resorts, wineries, and museums internationally. 

For the past five years, Erin Hanson has been mapping out a route to take her on a comprehensive journey through France, with the goal of retracing Monet's and van Gogh's steps. The route takes her from Paris to Giverny, through Etretat to Le Havre, through the Loire Valley into Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, and everywhere in between. Hanson will stand in the very spots where the great masters stood and be inspired by the views that captured Monet's and van Gogh's imaginations. This new collection is a culmination of over 100 years of artistic rebels. 

All are invited to experience Reflections of the Seine at The Erin Hanson Gallery on September 14th, 2024. 

Erin Hanson at her easel, age 4.