The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) is opening on a focus exhibition that explores the relationship between burning fossil fuels and the development of European modernist styles. Air Quality: The Influence of Smog on European Modernism presents a selection of paintings and works on paper by Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, James McNeill Whistler, and others to consider the ways that their artistic practices were impacted, in part, by widespread pollution in London and Paris. The exhibition includes data from climate scientists about the amount of fine particulate matter in the air at the time several works were created.
Air Quality will be on view at the BMA in two installations from February 9-August 3, 2025, and August 13, 2025–February 22, 2026. It is presented as part of the museum’s ongoing Turn Again to the Earth initiative, which explores environmental and sustainability issues.
More information: https://artbma.org
