This evening we went to the members’ preview for the new exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts: Americans in Paris, 1860-1900. It’s a delightful collection, showing how a diverse group of American artists journeyed to Paris, absorbed (or occasionally rejected) the artistic revolutions that marked the second half of the 19th century, and returned home to create a distinctively American style. For a dramatic example of the process, check out the way that John Singer Sargent’s seascapes were transformed between 1861 and 1865 from obsessive Realism to near-abstract and then proto-impressionism.
All of the usual suspects are here, including Mary Cassat and Winslow Homer. They’ve even managed to persuade the Musée d’Orsay to let them have Whistler’s Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1: Portrait of the Artist’s Mother.
My personal favourite item in the exhibition is by an artist with whom I was unfamiliar: Cecilia Beaux. Her Ernesta (Child with Nurse) is wonderful: the energy and curiosity of the child is almost palpable.

The show opens the day after tomorrow (June 25). Highly recommended.