Impressionist Normandy: 500 cultural rendezvous in 200 places

Presented at the Orsay Museum, the concept of Impressionist Normandy is still reinventing itself, for its 4th edition. In keeping with the formula imagined by its curator, Philippe Piguet. Its purpose is to revisit this artistic movement, and demonstrate that it was indissociable from the society upheavals of its era, along with the Industrial Revolution, during the second half of the 19th century.

Impressionism has a rendezvous in Normandie

After having shaken up our way of perceiving the world, this painting style will be integrating the multi-faceted festival, presided by writer Erik Orsenna. The latter announces himself as an irresistible wave, showcasing certain works by major painters, who participated in the revolution of perception, next to contemporary and confirmed talents, who express themselves on the subject.

For Claude Monet, the beach of Trouville had something special making it poetic and attaching. © DR

Les Repasseuses by Degas are the stars on exhibit, but La Paysanne Assise, by Camille Pissaro, is also very noticeable. © RMN/YUAG

A colorful pictorial revolution

Following a thematic featuring "the color of the day," canvases and photographs will be presented in museums, Normandy art and cultural centers, from Rouen to Honfleur, including Caen, Rouen, Dieppe, Giverny and Le Havre. Open to interpretations, the purpose of these rendezvous is to reveal the timelessness of these treasures from the past, in order to inscribe them durably in the current millenium.

Cliffs at sunset, painted by Karl Daubigny, at nighfall, are incredibly realistic. © Bertrand Legros