Guided Introductory Tours: the French Collection July 19, 2008

In the 18th century, France was an absolute monarchy and the Academy des Beaux-Arts was the government's chief arbiter of taste. But in the 19th century, artists began painting for the open market and devising their own subject matter and innovative style. This tour reviews great works by France's neoclassical, romantic and realist artists, ending with such impressionists and post-impressionists as Cezanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh.