This fall the Currier Gallery of Art will open the most important exhibition of paintings by Edmund C. Tarbell since his death in 1938.

Tarbell (1862 - 1938) was the acknowledged leader of the Boston School and an American Impressionist painter of national importance. Impressionism Transformed: The Paintings of Edmund C. Tarbell will include little-known early paintings, the plein-air scenes with which he established his reputation in the 1890s, the refined domestic interiors for which he is best known today, and a selection of portraits, equestrian subjects and later still lifes.

Tarbell has recently reemerged as an important figure in turn-of-the-century art. Born in West Groton, Massachusetts, Tarbell studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and then in Paris. He returned to Boston to teach at the Museum School, gaining an international reputation for excellence as both a teacher and a painter. From 1918 to 1925, he served as director of the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., after which he retired to New Castle, New Hampshire, his summer home for more than 40 years.

With this exhibition, Tarbell — whose works are in many major museums and private collections across the country — is rightfully regaining public recognition. Impressionism Transformed: The Paintings of Edmund C. Tarbell, accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, will travel to the Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware and the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago.

Admission to Impressionism Transformed is available at the Currier's visitor services desk on a first-come, first-served basis - there are no advance sales. Some public programs carry additional charges - please call the visitor services desk at (603) 669-6144, ext. 108. Currier members have unlimited free admission to the exhibition. Ticket prices for the exhibition, which include general museum admission, are: adults, $9; seniors 62 and up and college students with identification, $8; children under 18, free.

Impressionism Transformed: The Paintings of Edmund C. Tarbell is sponsored by Fidelity Investments through the Fidelity Foundation, with additional support from the Henry Luce Foundation.