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Frederic C. Hamilton donates impressionist collection to the Denver Art Museum

Claude Monet, Path in the Wheat Fields at Pourville

Claude Monet
Path in the Wheat Fields at Pourville, 1882.
Bequest of Frederic C. Hamilton.

Paul Cézanne, A Painter at Work

Paul Cézanne
A Painter at Work, about 1874-75.
Bequest of Frederic C. Hamilton.

Denver Art Museum gets gift of Impressionist paintings The Denver Art Museum (DAM) announced the largest gift ever given to the museum. Denver-based philanthropist Frederic C. Hamilton, the museum’s Chairman Emeritus, bequeathed 22 Impressionist masterworks from his private collection to the museum.]]>

January 14th 2014, source: Denver Art Museum (DAM)

The artworks are currently on view at the DAM in “Nature as Muse: Impressionist Landscapes from the Frederic C. Hamilton Collection and the Denver Art Museum”, part of the trio of exhibitions in “Passport to Paris”. This presentation, on view through February 9, 2014, is the first time the collection has been exhibited publicly. This capstone gift marks 35 years of Fred Hamilton’s generous giving to the DAM. Over the years, Hamilton has supported numerous endeavors and exhibitions, including the groundbreaking 2012 exhibition “Becoming Van Gogh”, and leading the fundraising effort for the $110 million Hamilton Building.

The gift includes a painting by Vincent van Gogh, “Edge of a Wheat Field with Poppies”, the first Van Gogh artwork to enter the museum’s collection; four works by the impressionist master Claude Monet including “Path in the Wheat Fields at the Pourville”, 1882, and “The Houses in the Snow, Norway”, that illustrate a range of output during the peak of Monet’s career; three paintings by Eugène Boudin, the first by the artist to enter the museum’s collection, including “Scene at the Beach in Trouville”, 1881; along with paintings by Paul Cézanne, another first for the museum’s collection, Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley, as well as those of their American contemporaries William Merritt Chase and Childe Hassam.

“The addition of these paintings to the Denver Art Museum collection is a pivotal moment in this institution’s history,” said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Denver Art Museum. “Frederic Hamilton’s generosity, vision and commitment to making Denver a destination for art are unparalleled and have forever changed the museum’s ability to deliver world-class exhibitions and programs.”

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Frederic C. Hamilton donates impressionist collection to the Denver Art Museum