Late autumn will be the ideal time to get to grips with some of the most important developments in modern art in the late 19thand early 20th centuries, with three exhibitions exploring the developments of Impressionism, Post Impressionism and beyond. Tate Britain will consider the impact which British Art had on the nascent Impressionist movement, as Monet and Pissarro, among others, travelled to London to avoid the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-71. Although Cézanne exhibited at the first Impressionist exhibition three years later, in 1874, and again at the third in 1877, it wasn’t until he found his own voice that he began to be acclaimed rather than maligned. The National Portrait Gallery will be holding the first ever exhibition of his portraits, created throughout a long, and slowly evolving career. Matisse, too, was slow to develop, and like Cézanne became one of the most influential artists of early modernism. The Royal Academy focuses on his studio practice: there is no better way to understand an artist’s work than by understanding the way he worked. Seen together these three exhibitions will highlight important developments in composition, form and colour respectively, all elements essential for the continued exploration of painting in the 20th Century.