From the sun-drenched colorful isle of Burano in the Venetian lagoon to a babbling mountain brook in the Swiss Alps, visitors at Wiscasset Bay Gallery can observe the evolution of painting from realism to impressionism to modernism in “The Grand Tour in Thirty Days.” The exhibition will be open from May 23 through June 24 at the gallery, which is celebrating its 42nd year.

An old-fashioned steamer trunk tour, “The Grand Tour in Thirty Days” takes the viewer to some of the most popular and remote locales across Europe during the 19th and early 20th centuries through the eyes of its artists.

Of particular interest on the modernist front is an oil on panel by French artist Jean de Botton (1898-1978). Botton has captured a sailboat regatta off the coast of Saint-Tropez with his distinctive sense of design and paint handling. In “Elements marins,” a line of triangular sails form a geometric pattern of white against the deep blue Mediterranean Sea. Botton led a colorful life traveling and creating art around the world while also serving as a ballet librettist, writing scripts for Parisian ballets and painting the legendary dancer Josephine Baker. His paintings can be found in the collections of many major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musee d’Art Moderne de Paris.

Moving north to the Scottish coast in Robert Weir Allan’s (Scottish, 1851-1942) boldly painted oil, viewers see large rugged headlands set against a clearing sky. In a protected cove, four children swim in the surf while their mother watches carefully and tends to the younger siblings on the shore. Weir has employed a loose impressionistic brushstroke to render the atmospheric effects created by the wind and sea. American artist Polly Parker Nordell (American, 1876-1958) likewise utilized an impressionist technique to exemplify the joys of childhood. A group of young girls and boys are seen in Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens playing with balloons and toys amidst purple shadows and dappled patches of light.

Other noted American and European works in the exhibition include Leon Kroll’s (American, 1884-1974) “Mont Sainte-Victoire”; Kurt Leyde’s (German, 1881-1941) “Campo del Sur, Cadiz”; Auguste Herzog’s (Swiss, 1885-1959) “Outside the Berlin Cafe”; Ivan Kuleff’s (Russian 1893-1987) Citrons and Mary Cassatt’s (American, 1844-1926) “Sara Smiling.”

For more information on the exhibition, call 207-882-7682 or visit the gallery’s website at wiscassetbaygallery.com. The Wiscasset Bay Gallery is located at 75 Main St. (Route 1) in historic Wiscasset Village.

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