The Metropolitan Museum of art has the greatest collection of French Impressionist paintings outside of France. The main reason is that wealthy Americans became the most avid and open- minded collectors when first exposed to Impressionist art by the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel and the American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt in the 1880s. Indeed, the greatest of the early American collections of Impressionism, today the corner stone of the Metropolitan Museum holdings, is that of Harry and Louisine Havemeyer, close friends of Mary Cassatt’s, who served as the main advisor in their purchases of modern and Old Master art during their European trips.

Our tour of the collection will focus on highlights of the Impressionist galleries of the museum, iconic works by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Morisot, Sisley, Caillebotte and more, including those works by Manet and Degas that have not been included in the current Manet/Degas exhibition at the Met.