Goya to Impressionism

The Oskar Reinhart Collection in Winterthur, northern Switzerland, is oneof the most remarkable of its kind, ranging from superlative Old Masterpaintings and drawings to exceptional examples of Impressionist art. Thecatalogue accompanies an exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, London, whichnarrates the story of the collector, Oskar Reinhart (1885–1965), and presentsan extraordinary group of masterpieces that are shown outside Winterthur forthe first time in the history of the institution.Assembled in the first half of the twentieth century by Oskar Reinhart, thecollection – apart from some donations to the state museum in Winterthur –opened to the public in 1958 in Reinhart’s beautiful villa ‘Am Römerholz’, whereit has remained since. A clause in Reinhart’s will, however, explicitly barred themuseum from lending to other institutions.For the first time in its history, a rich selection of highlights from theOskar Reinhart Collection will be displayed outside Switzerland, making theCourtauld exhibition a unique opportunity to appreciate its masterpieces,including major paintings by artists of the generation preceding theImpressionists, such as Goya, Géricault and Courbet. But the focus will beReinhart’s extraordinary Impressionist and Post-Impressionist holdings, whichinclude some of the greatest paintings of these movements, such as Manet’sgroundbreaking depiction of modern life in Au Café, Toulouse-Lautrec’sstriking representation of the female performer Clown Cha-U-Kao and a groupof exceptional works by Paul Cezanne. Equally important is a pair of paintingsby Van Gogh of the hospital in Arles, where he returned to paint after spendingtime there as a patient. The Reinhart Collection has close affinities with thatof the Courtauld, which provides therefore the perfect setting to stage thisunprecedented exhibition.