We have always considered the Santa Barbara Museum of Art one of the city’s most cherished treasures. Now, two major exciting, stunning and creative exhibitions have opened there running through January 25 that make the museum a must visit for residents and all coming to Santa Barbara.

The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art explores the rebellious origins of the independent artists collective that changed the course of modern art forever. The exhibition features a rich collection of paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Gaugin, Matisse, Mondrian, Morisot and Munch that tell the story of these radical artists who challenged the status quo, breaking with tradition and redefined contemporary art.

This exhibition is both beautiful and historic, organized cleverly into five thematic sections inviting viewers to journey along the paths that these avant garde pioneers took. The experience is thrilling, seeing these master works in their renewed shimmering brilliance with details emerging and brushstrokes coming alive as fresh as the day they were laid down on canvas.

The companion exhibition titled Encore: 19th-Century Art from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art is equally dramatic and engaging, focusing on locations in Paris, the French countryside and abroad when Paris was the center of the art world. Brilliantly curated by James Glisson, this collection of paintings, pastels, photographs, posters and book illustrations is a more intimate perspective on what everyday people saw and experienced in the 19th century.

There is a short film woven from the some of the 2500 artworks in the museum’s collection featuring works made in France between 1850 and 1950, then fascinating sections of art on Montmartre, the artists’s studios, the heart of Paris, the suburbs and the countryside, concluding with a trip across Northwern France and on to London. Noteworthy in this amazing exhibition are four Monet paintings shown for the first time ever together.

We highly commend the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and its dynamic director, Amada Cruz, for the superb quality of these two exhibitions which will continue to elevate the museum to the highest international standards of excellence. We urge all lovers of history, art and culture not to miss these important and uplifting experiences. Tickets to both exhibitions are on sale now at https://www.sbma.net/ticketing/ir-encore-2025. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm, 1st Thursdays 5-8 pm. http://www.sbma.net