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A lover of pictures, of Claude Monet’s landscapes, let us say, or Sisley’s, will inevitably come to know and feel a liking for rivers where a sailing boat streaks its wake between grassy banks, for the blue sea at Antibes, for various times of day, for certain aspects of Rouen where the cathedral shows among the houses, with its spire and ribbed Gothic walls standing out among flattened roofs and smooth house-fronts—just as a man who loves a singer inevitably loves the character of Juliet or of Ophelia, in which, as in the bread of the altar, the being he adores is made manifest to him. Picture lovers who will make a journey to look at a Monet painting of a poppy-field will not, perhaps, take a walk to look at a field of poppies; but meanwhile, like astrologers who had a speculum that showed them everything in the world, but which had to be consulted in some place of solitude, since astrologers did not mingle in the world’s affairs, they have hanging on their walls mirrors of a no less magic kind called pictures, in which, if one knows how to look at them steadily, slightly withdrawing oneself the while, important constituents of reality are unveiled....Monet’s pictures show us the magic vein in Argenteuil, in Vetheuil, in Epte, in Giverny.
                                                                                      MARCEL PROUST
                                                                                      “Monet,” between 1894 and 1904

Impressionism had as its “first idea…to take away the partition separating the studio from everyday life…to make the painter leave his sky-lighted cell, his cloister where he was in contact with the sky alone, and to bring him out among men, into the world,” according to Edmond Duranty, an early proponent of the “new painting.” Emile Zola at first called its practitioners “actualists.” For Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the fundamental achievement of the impressionists was simply that “we have freed painting from the importance of the subject.” But whatever its methods and aims, the work of Renoir and his fellow artists Monet, Manet, Pissarro, Caillebotte, Degas, Cassatt, Morisot, Seurat, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin still defines the look and spirit of an extraordinary time when, despite diplomatic and military reverses, the prestige of France in matters of culture was second to none.

This course will consist of eight slide-illustrated lectures and related readings/discussions that will consider impressionism and post-impressionism within the context of the social and intellectual history of the period 1860-1910.

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Wonderworks is a non-profit organization offering pre-college, after-school enrichment learning opportunities for high school students of special promise and ability.

Enrollment is free and open to all qualified students in grades 9 through 12.  To apply, fill out the form provided and mail to:

Be sure to include an e-mail address you can be reached at or through (either your own or a parent or teacher’s).  If necessary, transportation may be arranged from campuses with sufficient enrollment.  Questions should be directed to 713.301.4882 or e-mail to info@wonderworkshouston.org.

The course will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis for qualified applicants.  Applications must be received no later than 20 September to ensure full consideration.

For more information: info@wonderworkshouston.org