Women Impressionists and the Land: A Talk by Simon Kelly
An Illustrated Lecture by Simon Kelly
Curator and Head of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art
Saint Louis Art Museum
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
10:00–11:20 a.m.
Wrighton Hall 300
Washington University in St. Louis
Lecture in French
Open to WashU students, faculty, and the broader community
Organized by the French Connexions Center of Excellence
Washington University in St. Louis
Moderated by Lionel Cuillé
Director, French Connexions Center of Excellence
Simon Kelly will present in French the Saint Louis Art Museum’s new exhibition, Women Impressionists and the Land, the first exhibition devoted specifically to women Impressionists’ engagement with landscape and the natural world.
Bringing together approximately 70 works created between 1860 and 1910, the exhibition offers a new perspective on women Impressionists. Moving beyond the domestic subjects with which these artists have often been associated, it examines their engagement with outdoor spaces and landscape, including coastlines, countryside, parks, gardens, and cultivated land.
The illustrated lecture will highlight artists including Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Marie Bracquemond, and Blanche Hoschedé-Monet, while situating their work within the broader context of women’s artistic practice in late nineteenth-century France.
The lecture will be followed by a moderated discussion and Q&A.
ABOUT SIMON KELLY:
Simon Kelly is Curator and Head of the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Saint Louis Art Museum. A specialist in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century French art, his research focuses particularly on Impressionism, landscape painting, and the history of the art market.
Since joining the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2010, he has organized and co-organized major exhibitions including Women Impressionists and the Land (2026), Matisse and the Sea (2024), Monet/Mitchell: Painting the French Landscape (2023), and Millet and Modern Art: From Van Gogh to Dalí (2020).
He studied at the University of Cambridge and received his PhD from the University of Oxford, where he also taught art history.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
Women Impressionists and the Land
Saint Louis Art Museum
October 17, 2026–January 10, 2027
Organized by the Saint Louis Art Museum, the exhibition is curated by Simon Kelly with Abigail Yoder, Curatorial Assistant.
This illustrated lecture is organized by the French Connexions Center of Excellence at Washington University in St. Louis (RLL).
Learn more about Women Impressionists and the Land at the Saint Louis Art Museum.
Contact:
Dr. Lionel Cuillé, Director of the French Connexions Franco-American Center — lcuille@wustl.edu
