The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College has opened "Picturing Paris: Monet and the Modern City," a focused exhibition reuniting three Claude Monet paintings from spring 1867, including the museum's own "The Garden of the Princess" alongside two loans from European museums. The show, organized by curator Marlise Brown, features over 30 additional works from the Allen's collection by artists such as Renoir, Degas, and Cézanne. Concurrently, the museum welcomed Jon Seydl as its new director in July, returning to Northeast Ohio after leadership roles at the Worcester Art Museum and Krannert Art Museum.
This exhibition matters because it demonstrates how a small academic museum can mount a world-class show by leveraging its own collection and strategic loans, highlighting the Allen's reputation as one of America's finest college art museums. Seydl's appointment signals continuity and ambition, as he brings experience in audience engagement and innovative programming—like cat adoption exhibitions—to an institution already praised for its curatorial excellence. The reunion of Monet's three window views also offers fresh scholarly insight into the birth of Impressionism and the transformation of Paris under Haussmann.