vernissage
Americannoun
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Also called varnishing day. the day before the opening of an art exhibition traditionally reserved for the artist to varnish the paintings.
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a reception at a gallery for an artist whose show is about to open to the public.
noun
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a preview or the opening or first day of an exhibition of paintings
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another term for varnishing day
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vernissage
1910–15; < French: literally, a varnishing, touching up (of paintings). See varnish, -age
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Notoriously, there was a conspiracy of silence for two days so the death wouldn’t spoil Bacon’s vernissage.
From The Guardian • Sep. 15, 2017
Frieze holds a vernissage for collectors and V.I.P.’s.
From New York Times • May 8, 2013
The vernissage, in truth, usually seems the point of the thing, rather than the three succeeding months when the humble paying punters can see the exhibition for themselves.
From The Guardian • Sep. 4, 2010
Consider the middle-income Manhattan executive, say, who is invited to attend the weekday-evening vernissage of his favorite nephew, an artist.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ledoyen's has attained a particular celebrity as the restaurant where every one lunches on the vernissage day of the Salon.
From The Gourmet's Guide to Europe by Newnham-Davis, Lieut.-Col. (Nathaniel)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
