Harriet Backer, the music of colors: the Musée d'Orsay's poetic exhibition unveiled

The Musée d'Orsay invites us to meet Harriet Backer, the famous Norwegian painter, in a gentle, poetic exhibition on view from September 24, 2024 to January 12, 2025.

She is one of the great Norwegian artists of the late 19th century. It's time France discovered her talent too! At least, that's the opinion of the Musée d'Orsay, which is organizing the first French retrospective devoted to Harriet Backer. A prolific painter, committed to the sharing of knowledge and a feminist, Harriet Backer greatly influenced the art scene of her time.

The Musée d'Orsay invites us to discover her career and commitments in an exhibition entitled Harriet Backer, la musique des couleurs, on view from September 24, 2024 to January 12, 2025.

This exhibition brings together a large number of the artist's paintings, highlighted in a thematic tour that gives us a better understanding of this essential European painter.

First, we discover Harriet Backer's training and influences. From Paris to Munich, via Germany and Italy, from her close relatives to her Scandinavian colleagues, the artist's environment had a major influence on her art. Through her encounters, her teachers and her travels, she has been able to create her own universe, inspired by many styles and artistic movements.

It's this world and its particularities that the Musée d'Orsay next evokes. Harriet Backer is known for her rustic interior scenes, her distinctive still lifes and landscapes, her traditional church interiors and her musical scenes. Through her art, the painter illustrates the everyday life of her time, and the place of women in this closed society.

Harriet Backer's paintings are striking for their choice of color, play of light and attention to detail. In these paintings, colors are vivid and rich. The subjects seem alive, caught in the act by the artist immortalizing a seemingly banal scene. Harriet Backer mixes realist and impressionist techniques to create these paintings full of life and emotion.

Along the way, we see the artist's style change and evolve: Harriet Backer learns and refines her practice, while maintaining a constant passion for her favorite themes.

Harriet Backer's work and life were greatly influenced by music, so melodies follow us throughout this exhibition. The musical ambience, the paintings and the choice of subjects make this exhibition a soothing stroll. Nature, scenes of simple farm life, devotional works and even portraits: everything is soft and relaxing in Harriet Backer's paintings.

We discover 19th-century Norway, a country that may have been harsh, but that hid an authentic beauty, which the artist was able to capture under his brush.