Museum Day: 19th Century French Impressionism

During a recent visit to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), I viewed their collection of 19th century French Impressionism art that included masterworks from revolutionary artists like Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Edgar Degas. Their curated collection captured a pivotal moment in art history when painters abandoned studios for en plein air painting - a practice of painting outdoors that was made possible by the invention of premade paint tubes. To capture the shifting shades of natural light, they used a palette of bright hues. By stepping outside the studio, these painters captured fleeting moments in time. Rather than focusing on historical or mythological themes, Impressionistic painters captured the beauty of daily life: summer sunlight filtering through trees, the rhythmic dance of water lilies, the bustling crowds of Parisian boulevards, or the smoky haze of train stations.

Visiting the museum offered a quiet passage through time, where the enduring spirits of these artists still resonated among the quiet halls of the galleries. I left with an appreciation of how these avant-garde artists altered art, turning the ordinary into something extraordinary.