Art history lovers in Bellingham are in for a treat in 2025: Thanks to a partnership with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Whatcom Museum will receive a long-term loan of three French masterworks. They’ll be on view as part of a new exhibition, “Verdant,” opening Friday, Feb. 14 at the museum’s Lightcatcher building.
“Verdant” includes three paintings from landmark 19th- and 20th-century artists: “Still Life with Sleeping Woman” by Henri Matisse, “Picking Flowers” by Auguste Renoir and “The Battle of Love” by Paul Cézanne.
Community members will be able to view these works at the Whatcom Museum through 2026. Their loan was made possible through the National Gallery’s Across the Nation program, which will connect 10 regional U.S. museums with important works of art in 2025 and 2026.
“It’s a privilege each time we’re entrusted with an artwork, either for exhibition or safekeeping within our collection, and that the National Gallery would partner with us to share these masterworks with Bellingham is a real honor,” Whatcom Museum Executive Director Patricia Leach said in a Wednesday, Jan. 29 news release.
Across the Nation aims to introduce new perspectives to regional museums, as well as complement museums’ existing collections. As such, artworks selected for the Whatcom Museum “revel in lush and emotive subjects that call to mind the verdancy treasured here in the Pacific Northwest.”
“Radical in their day, Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse expanded the ways artists could envision the world, with ripple effects that extended across generations and to the artists well-known in our region,” Whatcom Museum Chief Curator Amy Chaloupka said.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Whatcom Museum will introduce a pilot program to provide K-12 school groups with free admission. Tours include an interactive viewing of “Verdant,” admission to one additional exhibition and an art-making activity.
“Verdant” opens at the Whatcom Museum Lightcatcher building (250 Flora St.) on Thursday, Feb. 13 for Whatcom Museum members and Feb. 14 for the general public. Community members receive free admission on Friday, March 7 as part of Access for All Free First Friday. Info: whatcommuseum.org.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
