“ Woman with Parasol “

Claude Monet, in full Oscar-Claude Monet, (born November 14,

1840, Paris, France—died December 5, 1926, Giverny), French painter who
was the initiator, leader, and unswerving advocate of the Impressionist style.
In his mature works, Monet developed his method of producing repeated
studies of the same motif in series, changing canvases with the light or as his
interest shifted. These series were frequently exhibited in groups—for
example, his images of haystacks (1890/91) and the Rouen cathedral (1894).
At his home in Giverny, Monet created the water-lily pond that served as
inspiration for his last series of paintings. His popularity soared in the second
half of the 20th century, when his works traveled the world in museum
exhibitions that attracted record-breaking crowds and marketed popular
commercial items featuring imagery from his art.

“Luncheon of the Boating Party”

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, (born February 25, 1841, Limoges, France—died
December 3, 1919, Cagnes), French painter originally associated with
the Impressionist movement. His early works were typically Impressionist
snapshots of real life, full of sparkling colour and light. By the mid-1880s,
however, he had broken with the movement to apply a more disciplined,
formal technique to portraits and figure paintings, particularly of women.

“ Pyramid of Skulls “
Paul Cézanne, (born January 19, 1839, Aix-en-Provence, France—died
October 22, 1906, Aix-en-Provence), French painter, one of the greatest of
the Post-Impressionists, whose works and ideas were influential in
the aesthetic development of many 20th-century artists and art movements,
especially Cubism. Cézanne’s art, misunderstood and discredited by the public
during most of his life, grew out of Impressionism and eventually challenged
all the conventional values of painting in the 19th century because of his
insistence on personal expression and on the integrity of the painting itself,
regardless of subject matter. See also the Britannica Classic by Roger Fry:
Cézanne.

“The Scream”
Vincent van Gogh, in full Vincent Willem van Gogh, (born March 30,
1853, Zundert, Netherlands—died July 29, 1890, Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris,
France), Dutch painter, generally considered the greatest after Rembrandt van
Rijn, and one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. The striking colour,
emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of his work powerfully influenced
the current of Expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh’s art became
astoundingly popular after his death, especially in the late 20th century, when
his work sold for record-breaking sums at auctions around the world and was
featured in blockbuster touring exhibitions. In part because of his extensive
published letters, van Gogh has also been mythologized in the popular
imagination as the quintessential tortured artist.