NEW YORK, NY.- In conjunction with the opening of their Modern Masters exhibition, Hammer Galleries has created an interactive virtual tour highlighting both the exhibition and their gallery space. Following their inaugural Renoir exhibition, Modern Masters is the second major European exhibition to take place at Hammer Galleries' new location: 475 Park Avenue, New York, NY from May 2, 2011 through July 29, 2011. By clicking the link below you will be brought to the virtual tour of Modern Masters.

http://vtg.virtualtourgallery.com/vtg-0111/

Featuring exceptional paintings by Marc Chagall, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani and Pablo Picasso, Modern Masters includes over twenty major works ranging in date from 1919 - 1977. Jeune fille assise, les cheveux dénoués (Jeune fille en bleu), an exquisite and rare Amedeo Modigliani oil from 1919, is an exhibition highlight and was the focal point of a recent lecture at Hammer Galleries given by Meryle Secrest, acclaimed author of the new biography "Modigliani: A Life".

As the epicenter of culture in the early 1900's, Paris attracted artists from both France and abroad. Chagall, Picasso and Modigliani made Paris their permanent residence in the early part of the twentieth century, where they met other members of the avant-garde including Matisse and Leger. As noted author and art critic Edward Lucie-Smith states in his introductory essay of the Modern Masters exhibition catalogue, "Paris was a mixture between a stewpot and laboratory. A stewpot, because all kinds of cultural traditions were blended together. A laboratory, because this was where artistic ideas were continually tested to their limits." Individually, each of these five artist's distinctive styles made vital contributions to the avant-garde; together, they revolutionized modern art. The significance and appeal of these Modern Masters continues to endure today.