Artists of the Neo-Impressionist circle renounced the random spontaneity of Impressionism in favor of a measured painting technique grounded in science and the study of optics.

Through their radically independent styles and dedication to pursuing unique means of artistic expression, the Post-Impressionists dramatically influenced generations of artists.

In 1886, with a series of brilliant images of New York’s new public parks, William Merritt Chase became the first major American painter to create Impressionist canvases in the United States.

In addition to their radical technique, the bright colors of Impressionist canvases were shocking for eyes accustomed to the more sober colors of Academic painting.

Several members of the Teen Advisory Group share their first impressions of John Singer Sargent's Madame X and discuss what they find most striking about the painting.

The German expatriate Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) became the most influential teacher of modern art in the United States, and his impact reached both artists and critics.

This handsome publication, which accompanies a major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a lively and engaging account of the artistic scene in Paris in the 1860s, the years that witnessed the beginnings of Impressionism. For the first time the interactions and relationships among the group of painters who became known as the Impressionists are examined without the over-worn art historical polarities commonly evoked: academic versus avant-garde, classicist versus romantic, realist versus impressionist. A host of strong personalities contributed to this history, and their style evolved into a new way of looking at the world. These artists wanted above all to give an impression of truth and to have an impact on or even to shock the public. And they wanted to measure up to or surpass their elders. This complex and rich environment is presented here—the grand old men and the young turks encounter each other, the Salon pontificates, and the new generation moves fitfully ahead, benignly but always with determination. Origins of Impressionism gives a day-by-day, year-by-year study of the genesis of an epoch-making style. Nine essays review the Parisian art world before Impressionism ("The Salon of 1859") and the traditional genres both as they were known and as they would be transformed by the New Painting ("History Painting," "Realist Landscape," "The Nude," "Figures in Landscape," "Still Life," "Portraits and Figures," "Impressionist Landscape," and "Modern Life"). Each is illustrated with an abundance of works by the new artists as well as by those who made up the rest of the artistic milieu. The breadth and depth of the art world become evident and our understanding is further expanded by a wealth of contemporaneous comments and criticism. The relations between artists—Manet and Degas, Cézanne and Pissarro, Monet and Bazille, among others—are made clear, and their implications are explored. Insightful commentary brings new dimensions to Monet, Fantin-Latour, and Renoir. Throughout, the history of this period is greatly augmented and much sharpened. Bibliographies and provenances are provided for each of the almost two hundred works in the exhibition, and there is an illustrated chronology. With more than two hundred superb color-plates, this informative survey is an essential work for both the general reader and the scholar.

Teen Advisory Group Member Cheeky Swagger (a.k.a. Dan) discusses his appreciation for Pierre-Auguste Cot's 1873 painting Springtime.

"I believe the man who will go down to posterity is the man who paints his own time and the scenes of everyday life around him," declared Childe Hassam in 1892. It was as a pioneer of American Impressionism and perhaps its most prolific and successful practitioner that Hassam (1859–1935) realized this credo. In so doing, he provided an engaging account of our national life during a dynamic period. At the same time he helped to create a wave of enthusiasm for American Impressionism that he rode to fame and fortune. Hassam's earliest work announce his cheerful euphemism, pride in American traditions, and what would become his lifelong devotion to both pastoral scenes and urban views. As a student in Paris, he was exceptional among his compatriots in adopting the French Impressionists' modern subjects and lively technique. Upon settling in New York, Hassam became the city's principal American Impressionist chronicler. He made long visits to picturesque New England villages and later spent summers working in elegant East Hampton, New York, sojourns that yielded rich material for his brush. Among Hassam's favorite themes are New York shown at all seasons and times of day, often veiled in snow or evening mist; beguiling women in interiors or at leisure in sun-dappled gardens; and dazzling coastal views. Today he is best known for his exuberant portrayals of Celia Thaxter's old-fashioned garden on Appledore Island, Maine, and his depictions of the flags, banners, and bunting displayed on New York's tall buildings in patriotic response to World War I. This lavishly illustrated publication accompanies a major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, the first retrospective presentation of Hassam's work in a museum since 1972. The insights of H. Barbara Weinberg, the Metropolitan's Alice Pratt Brown Curator of American Paintings and Sculpture, and other experts shed new light on the artist's achievements in texts that will engage scholarly and popular audiences alike. Reconsidered are his formative period in Boston and his student years in Paris. His rural and urban scenes, analyzed in terms of their Impressionist brushwork and palette, are also measures against his determination to portray modern life. The New England views, which offer a composite portrait of the region that preserved American traditions in the face of daunting change, are examined for the first time in relation to the attributes of the locales Hassam visited. And his genteel portrayals of New York are shown to have become increasingly euphemistic as the city's population grew more fluid and heterogeneous after 1900. Hassam's watercolors, etchings, and lithographs have also merited fresh scrutiny. Unique to this volume are an account of Hassam's lifelong campaign to market his art, a study of the frames he selected and designed for his paintings, and an unprecedented lifetime exhibition record. Included in addition are a checklist of works in the exhibition and a chronology of Hassam's life. All works in the exhibition as well as rich comparative materials are reproduced.

To complement the major exhibition Signac 1863-1935: Master Neo-Impressionist, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present paintings, drawings, and watercolors – selected entirely from the Museum's own collections – by Charles Angrand, Henri-Edmond Cross, Maximilien Luce, Hippolyte Petitjean and other artists who, like Paul Signac, exuberantly followed the groundbreaking techniques of optical painting introduced in the 1880s by Georges Seurat. On view at the Metropolitan from October 2 through December 30, 2001, Neo-Impressionism: The Circle of Paul Signac will feature some 60 works by these artists as well as by the better-known Signac and Seurat.

Featuring some eighty major figure paintings, this exhibition presents a revealing look at the role of fashion in the works of the Impressionists and their contemporaries.

On view February 26–May 27, 2013