Telfair Museums will present "Impressionism and Modernity: French and American Painting" at the Jepson Center for the Arts from May 15 through August 16, 2026. Organized for the museum's 140th anniversary, the exhibition brings together Telfair's collection of American Impressionist works with key French Impressionist paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., featuring artists such as Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, and Vincent van Gogh. The show explores Impressionism's origins in France, its transatlantic influence, and its impact on American art and identity, with works addressing themes of modern life, leisure, the city, and nostalgia for nature.
The exhibition matters because it highlights a pivotal moment when artists on both sides of the Atlantic reimagined how the modern world could be depicted, and it underscores Telfair Museums' historic role as one of the earliest American institutions to collect Impressionist art. By pairing its own distinguished collection with loans from the National Gallery, the show traces how Impressionism moved from a radical French movement to a force that reshaped American national identity during industrialization. It also celebrates Telfair's 140-year commitment to bringing groundbreaking art to Savannah and connecting local audiences to broader art historical narratives.