‘Major, exciting works.’ Kimbell’s season covers Renaissance to early 20th century France

The Kimbell Art Museum’s upcoming season will take viewers from the Renaissance to early 20th century France.

Opening on Nov. 5 and running through Jan. 28, 2024, is “Bonnard’s Worlds,” the museum’s first exhibit of his work since it acquired his “Landscape at Le Cannet” (1928) in 2018.

Pierre Bonnard was a painter, illustrator and printmaker, influential mover in the Post-Impressionist movement influenced by Paul Gauguin. The exhibit comprises an estimated 70 works across his lifetime.

“From a panoramic landscape measuring nine feet in width to an intimate bedroom scene measuring only nine inches — the range is wonderful,” said George Shackelford, the museum’s deputy director.

While Bonnard’s focus may be on Europe, the collections come from across the world.

The exhibit is organized with The Phillips Collection in Washington.

“We are very excited to be able to bring so many masterpieces by Bonnard together from all over the world — from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Some of them haven’t been seen together in the United States in a generation. Bonnard’s Worlds will offer visitors a chance to look closely at the artist’s favorite themes, spanning a career that lasted 50 years,” Shackelford said.

For fans of war, fabrics or history, the go-to show will likely be “Art and War in the Renaissance: The Battle of Pavia Tapestries,” which runs June 16–Sept. 15, 2024. The show brings together seven large scale tapestries, each about 27 by 14 feet, commemorating Emperor Charles V’s decisive victory over French King Francis I that ended the 16th century Italian Wars. Court artist Bernard van Orley’s tapestries tell a tale of the war with military leaders in front of richly detailed landscapes dotted with hills, towns, and forests.

It’s organized by the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte and The Museum Box in collaboration with the Kimbell, the Minneapolis Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

The Kimbell wraps up in 2024 with “Dutch Art in a Global Age: Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” running Nov. 10-Feb. 9, 2025. Capturing how trade in Denmark changed amid globalization, the show features works by artists like Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Gerrit Dou, Jacob van Ruisdael, Maria Schalcken, who portrayed what gave rise to what many consider the first age of globalization and sparked an artistic boom in the Netherlands.

“Each of these exhibitions presents special opportunities for Fort Worthians and visitors to experience major, exciting works of art from all over the world. Over the past 50 years, the Kimbell Art Museum has built strong relationships with museums and private collectors throughout the United States and globally,” said Eric Lee, the museum’s director.

He emphasized these collaborative shows only come together because of the Kimbell’s stature and ability to make relationships.

“These relationships, along with the Kimbell’s reputation, renowned architecture, and stellar collection — from which we reciprocate with loans to other museums — enable us to host the kinds of exhibitions that one would expect only in major capitals like New York or London.”