Art World Speaks French This Summer

French art is the focus of three exhibits--on Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and 1890s Paris--in three cities this month.

“Monet and the Mediterranean,” opening today at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, displays 70 paintings that the great Impressionist created during trips to Venice and to the Italian and French Rivieras. Many have never been exhibited before, museum officials say. The exhibit closes Sept. 7, then moves to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Information: (817) 332-8451.

Starting June 19, New York’s Museum of Modern Art showcases 150 prints ranging from posters to illustrated books to sheet music created in 1890s Paris by artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Maurice Denis. “Paris/The 1890s” runs through Sept. 2. Information: (212) 708-9400.

“Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age” presents 65 of the Impressionist’s depictions of his fellow artists, friends, patrons and others of the Parisian beau monde. The exhibit runs June 27 to Sept. 14 at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Information: (800) 319-2787.