About 67 works tracing Impressionism from its 1874 debut through its ripple effects into the early 20th century are about to fill the lower-level galleries at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition, titled The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse, opens Saturday, Nov. 14, and brings together paintings connected to some of the movement's biggest names for a run in Richmond.
According to WTVR, the show features works connected to Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent Van Gogh, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt and Henri Matisse. VMFA itself, in its 2026 exhibitions press materials obtained through a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts document, confirms that the exhibition includes works by Monet, Degas, Morisot and Renoir, describing it as tracing the movement “from its birth in 1874 to its legacy in the early 20th century and beyond.”
The show is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. WRIC reports the exhibition features about 67 works total, including many pieces from the Dallas Museum of Art alongside 15 drawn from VMFA's own collection. The same report notes the show will be on view in the museum's lower-level special exhibition galleries.
A Birthday Party for the Movement's Founder
VMFA is leaning into the timing: the opening day also happens to be Claude Monet's 186th birthday. Per the station's report, the museum plans to mark the occasion with a birthday celebration featuring a DJ and a recreation of one of Monet's paintings made entirely out of cupcakes.
Associate Curator Theresa Cunningham framed the movement's appeal for modern audiences in terms of what made it startling in its own era. “Its bright color palette, its scenes of modern life and nature — were really considered revolutionary in their time,” she said, per the same account. That framing underpins the exhibition's premise, which traces not just a style but a shift in what artists considered worth painting.
Curator Sylvain Cordier, discussing the show's structure, described it as a chance to see how the Impressionist movement itself took shape, explaining it shows “how the movement developed in France in the 1870s,” according to WRIC's report.
Dates and Ticket Details Still Settling
Exactly how long the exhibition will run depends on which VMFA source you check. The museum's 2026 exhibitions press release lists the show running from Nov. 14, 2026, through March 14, 2027, while a later VMFA announcement states the exhibition “is now extended through April 4, 2027.” WRIC's report also lists the run as extending to April 4, 2027. The discrepancy between the original and extended closing dates has not been resolved in materials reviewed for this story.
Ticket pricing shows a similar split. VMFA's 2026 exhibitions press release lists admission at $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $10 for youth ages 7 to 17 and college students with valid ID. A separate VMFA exhibition page, however, lists adult tickets at $20, senior tickets at $16, group tickets at $16, and youth and student tickets at $10. Prospective visitors may want to confirm current pricing directly with the museum before planning a visit.
VMFA is located at 200 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard in Richmond. The segment on the exhibition aired as part of Virginia This Morning, which airs on CBS 6 weekdays at 9 a.m.
