From November 28, 2025, to February 1, 2026, Sassari hosted a major exhibition dedicated to Impressionism, designed to portray the movement in its entirety and place the city at the center of the national cultural landscape. The exhibition, titled “Light, Nature, Freedom. Landscape Pioneers from Barbizon to the Impressionists”, was held at the Tavolara Museum and featured 66 works by 31 artists, curated by art historian Alberto Bertuzzi.
The exhibition, conceived by the Aurea Natur Cultural Association with the support of the Municipality of Sassari, the Fondazione di Sardegna, and the patronage of local institutions, was divided into three sections: from the first anti-academic movements to the Barbizon School, and finally to the full maturity of Impressionism. The works came from Italian and French collectors, some never before exhibited to the public.
The exhibition path highlights landscape as the central subject and includes oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, lithographs, and mixed media. Among the precursors are Eugène Boudin, Monet’s mentor, and Eugène Isabey. Significant space was dedicated to the Barbizon School with artists such as Théodore Rousseau, Narcisse Diaz de la Peña, Jules Dupré, Daubigny, and other key figures of nineteenth-century landscape painting.
The Impressionist section included works by Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, and Berthe Morisot, as well as Giovanni Boldini and Emilio Donnini. Also featured were artists famous for their female portraits, such as Henri Gervex and Paul César Helleu.
The exhibition was enriched by previously unpublished insights into the artists’ lives, the result of research by Caterina Berlinguer and Alberto Bertuzzi, revealing interesting facts about the art market and Monet’s private life. An exhibition of great cultural and artistic value, capable of combining historical rigor with narrative charm.
