About the artists

A quick look at four of the artists whose work will be shown next year in "Turner to Cezanne"

Claude Monet (1840-1926) was a founder of impressionism. He’s best known for his colorful, fuzzy, densely-texture paintings of outdoor scenes, especially the water lilies at his home. He often did dozens of paintings of the same thing, such as the Palazzo Dario (one of which is in this show) to capture changing light and atmospheric conditions.

For much of his life, Monet lived in poverty and his work was ridiculed. But just this week, Tuesday a new record price was set for his work when the 1873 painting “Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" sold for $41.4 million at a New York auction.

There are three Monet paintings in the show coming to Columbia.

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) is revered by later modern artists who saw him as setting the stage for cubism and all that would follow. Pablo Picasso called Cezanne "the father of us all." He was interested in the simplification of forms to their geometric essentials and made significant changes in the way perspective was handled. Two of his paintings are in the show.

J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) was a British painter who made landscape painting an important subject of art. He often painted storms, ships being caught in foul weather and fires, but the way he painted was most important: his works are completely infused with light. This would have a profound impact on the impressionist as well as American abstract painters.

One critic complained that Turner did “paintings of nothing.” That would later be seen as praise. Five of his paintings are in the show.

Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875) was one of the earliest artists to depict nature and people in a more realistic manner. The French painter is best known for his images of peasants working in the fields. Five of his paintings are in the show.