Monet’s painting technique is perfectly suited for depicting this windy seaside day on the English Channel. Claude Monet, Cliff Walk at Pourville by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Cezanne gets freaky with the conventions of landscape painting in this fuzzy image of a hot day. Paul Cézanne, The Red Rock by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Obsessed with this view, Monet paid the owner of the trees not to cut them down until he finished his paintings. Claude Monet, Poplars by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
This sentimental scene of a quiet moment of prayer in the fields reflects a nostalgia for religion in modern France. Jean-François Millet, L’Angélus by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Before the artist could paint this pastoral scene, she had to petition the government… for the right to wear pants. Rosa Bonheur, Sheep in the Highlands by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Cropped figures, vivid hues, and unnatural light turn a humdrum pastoral scene into an act of aesthetic rebellion. Paul Gauguin, The Red Cow by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Rosa Bonheur defies the patriarchy, one masterfully painted ox at a time. Rosa Bonheur, Plowing in the Nivernais (or ... by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Monet paints the surface of the water itself, refusing the viewer the anchoring presence of a horizon or shoreline. Claude Monet, Les Nymphéas (The Water Lilies) by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Realism’s original bad boy put a naked woman in a picnic scene, and the critics were not happy about it. Édouard Manet, Le déjeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon ... by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Monet discards hundreds of years of tradition of how to paint light, and shows us what he’s really seeing. Claude Monet, The Argenteuil Bridge by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Soft and lovely though it may be, this image struck fear in the hearts of urban elites when it was first exhibited. Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Cézanne’s lifelong love affair with the landscape of Aix-en-Provence reaches its peak in his mountain images. Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire by Dr. Ben Harvey
A small brown smudge in the background of this awkward painting hints at Cézanne’s ingenuity. Paul Cézanne, Turning Road at Montgeroult by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris
Though the artist was obsessed with painting a starry sky en plein air, it is likely this was painted indoors. Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night by Dr. Noelle Paulson
Rejected from a national exhibition, Courbet simply launched his own show to display this enormous work. Gustave Courbet, The Painter’s Studio: A Real ... by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker
Not your average vacation picture: Dyce’s family in a scientifically-observed landscape, timestamped with a comet. William Dyce, Pegwell Bay, Kent – a ... by Dr. Rebecca Jeffrey Easby
People paid to see this apocalyptic painting performed with light and sound—as much theatre as work of art. John Martin, The Great Day of His ... by Ben Pollitt