Few movements in art are more beloved than French impressionism. It was during this period that artists like Monet moved outside the studio to paint elaborate plein air “impressions” of the world around them, from cheerfully colored city scenes, to seascapes during stormy weather and detailed landscapes awash in natural light.
           
Monet: Lost in Translation. Revisiting Impressionism brings together two hundred full-color images from the period. In addition to their undeniable beauty that leaves viewers breathless, part of the fascination with the French impressionists lies with what these works can tell us about the time of their production—from favorite places like the beaches of Normandy and the banks of the Seine to popular pastimes like picnics and promenades and even the importance of the railroad and other innovations of the day. Beginning with the precursors of the plein air tradition, the book takes readers through masterworks by Corot, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, Caillebotte, and many of their contemporaries before ending on what is undeniably the movement’s most well-loved masterwork: Monet’s Water Lilies, painted in his famous garden in Giverny.
           
Drawing on a vast collection of masterworks from museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the book guides readers through the major works of the movement.