Paris, the capital of the arts, fascinated painters with its hectic lifestyle. With the development of the railroads and the appearance of paint tubes, which enabled new mobility, plein air painters began to explore new motifs. Normandy was to become a veritable land of inspiration.

It all began in Le Havre, with Monet's 1872 painting Impression, Sunrise, which gave its name to the mouvement. Normandy was an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the Impressionists. In Etretat, we meet Monet in front of the famous hollow needle, and in Le Havre, Pissarro, fascinated by the atmosphere of the port. In Dieppe, slip behind the lively canvases of Renoir or Eva Gonzales, one of the few women of the movement. Taste the atmosphere of Honfleur, and immerse yourself in the sensibility of Boudin, born in this coastal village with its ever-changing skies, still home to many artists' studios today. And to take us back to the roots of Impressionism, the wild Cotentin coast offers an enchanting journey in the footsteps of Millet, one of the precursors of this open-air artistic revolution.

From Paris to Le Havre, via Rouen, Impressionism left its mark. In our lecture, we'll follow in the footsteps of the Impressionists in Normandy to the rhythm of the exhibitions celebrating the 150th anniversary of this movement that revolutionized art history and toured the world.