On April 15, 1874, an exhibition organized by the “Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, etc.” opened in Paris at the studio of the photographer Nadar on the Boulevard des Capucines. These artists would soon become known by another name: the impressionists. The true story is not so not straightforward. In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first impressionist exhibition, this lecture invites you to travel back in time to a Paris still recovering from civil war but full of energy and optimism. There you will meet the diverse band of artists who started a revolution in art and learn about the rich artistic landscape in which it flourished.

Join Kimberly A. Jones, Ph.D, Curator of Nineteenth-Century French Paintings, Department of French Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, to explore this fascinating story.

Image: Lucien Abrams (1870–1941), “The Orchard,” 1916. Oil on canvas, 26 1/8 x 32 1/8 in. Florence Griswold Museum; Gift of Mrs. Lucien Abrams

“Impressionism 150: From Paris to Connecticut & Beyond” is on view through September 8.