This is the town where Claude Monet grew up.
On the northern coast of France, Le Havre was where Monet first learned to paint, where he found his true calling.
When he was 19, he left for Paris to study art, but he still came back to Le Havre often to see his family. In his young adulthood, he made nearly 30 paintings there—pictures of the beach and seaside resorts.
As Monet matured, so did his art. He focused less on the familiar attractions and began to notice the city in new and unexpected ways—painting his unique impression of construction sites and the town harbor. And it was there where he created “Impression: Sunrise”—the painting that gave the impressionist movement its name.
Le Havre grounded his art and shaped his legacy.
Before our #Paris1874 show closes on Sunday, stop by to see this painting in person ➡️ https://bit.ly/4g0BTwi
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🖼 Claude Monet, “Fishing Boats Leaving the Harbor, Le Havre,” 1874, oil on canvas, collection of Michael G. Herman Société Anonyme 1874, no. 96
🎥 Animation by Fgreat
Alone in a tower filled with the world’s largest display of sculptures by Alexander Calder. ✨
In this room filled with moving sculptures by Calder, giant mobiles are suspended in the sky. They turn and dance as you cohabit their space. One of the most extraordinary things about these deceptively gravity-defying objects is that they are supported by a force the size of your thumbnail: a tiny hook.
In the mid-1930s, in addition to developing his classic mobiles, Calder began to explore the concept of creating three-dimensional paintings in motion. The movement of these sculptures results in flashes of forms and colors, a complex choreography of elements that blurs the line between circumstance and permanence.
Plan your visit to see these dancing sculptures in person 🔎 https://bit.ly/4g0x8S5
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📍 East Building, Tower, Gallery 606
© 2023 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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#calder #art #modern #sculpture #peace #explore #live #colors #alone #adventure #travel #secret #arte
Freezing weather and impending snowstorms are the perfect excuse to stay inside and bake a cake inspired by Wayne Thiebaud, if you ask us.
Christian and Giancarlo Guevara, twin brothers and co-owners of dbakers Sweet Studio, were so inspired by Thiebaud’s frosted creations that they decided to bring them to life in their own kitchen.
Thiebaud’s process was about turning the everyday into something extraordinary. His journey began when he worked as a dishwasher, observing pies, cakes, and processed foods around him. Though he initially feared no one would take him seriously, he began painting them anyway.
He studied the basic shapes of his subjects—cakes, pies, and other familiar foods—and focused on making them “sit” on the canvas in a way that created geometric depth and texture. There’s something in the ritual of baking—the careful measuring, the frosting, the layering—that mirrors Thiebaud’s process: a balance of precision and creativity, where a cake is both an object of beauty and a simple pleasure.
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🖼 Wayne Thiebaud, “Cakes,” 1963, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 in., Collectors Committee and The Circle Gift, with Additional Support from the Abrams Family in Memory of Harry N. Abrams
Hay que hablar más de Emilio Amero.
Formó parte del mismo grupo de muralistas mexicanos que Diego Rivera y José Clemente Orozco, un conjunto que creó murales que ahora son emblemáticos de la época y del país.
Pero también hacía litografías, como la que nos comenta aquí nuestra compañera, Angélica ⬇️
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🖼 Emilio Amero, "Madre e hijo", 1935, litografía, 23 x 19 cm, Colección Rosenwald
📍 Edificio este, planta baja — galería 106-A
The National Gallery Library is a sanctuary for introverts.
Sketching a Vermeer. ✍️✨
Visitor Gustavo Ramos was so captivated by Vermeer's masterpiece “Woman Holding a Balance” that he decided to sketch it quickly during his visit.
What do you think of his sketch?
John Singer Sargent’s landscapes are underrated. 👀
Sargent, who was a superstar of Gilded Age portraiture on both sides of the Atlantic, found himself increasingly weary of the demands of that high-profile life in the early 1900s. He even went so far as to announce he was "shutting up shop in the portrait line," to focus more on landscapes.
And here's the thing: his landscapes are imbued with the same dazzling variety of brushwork that made his portraits so vibrant. Take a look at his “En route pour la pêche” painting, for example. The way he captures sunlight and deep shadows in that seaside scene—it’s nothing short of brilliant. His landscapes are a testament to his incredible range and skill, revealing an entirely different facet of his artistry.
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🖼 John Singer Sargent, “En route pour la pêche (Setting Out to Fish),” 1878, oil on canvas, 31 × 48 in., Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund)
Looks like someone forgot to close our mall entrance again. 🤷🏽
Buddy the Elf stopped by our West Building on his way back to the North Pole. 🌨
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Animation designed by James Tralie, producer and animator at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Vallayer-Coster
You deserve some flowers today 🫱
Happy holidays 🌹 This painting was missing for centuries, until now.
In the 18th century, a French artist named Anne Vallayer-Coster, who painted for Marie Antoinette, thought this painting was her best work. Many people wanted to buy it from her while she was alive, but she denied them all. She kept the painting in her personal collection until her death.
Years later, the painting was sold at an auction to one of her family members. After that, it was never seen publicly again. “We knew about the painting, but we didn’t know where it was,” says Aaron Wile, associate curator of French paintings.
Then, in 2022, the painting reappeared.
#ArtUncovered
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🖼 Anne Vallayer-Coster, “Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit,” 1783, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Fund
🎥 Video by Rino Stefano Tagliafierro
🎧 Sound Effects by Alberto Modignani
Somewhere between living and dreaming ☁️
Watch this magical performance by Team USA as they dance around our frozen Sculpture Garden. ❄️
Plan your visit ➡️ https://bit.ly/47Fm8G1
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#dream #love #romantic #iceskating #figureskating #skating #winter #vibe #nutcracker #couple #glamour #beautiful #explore @teamusa @usfigureskating
Four little dancers inspire another. ❤️
While The Nutcracker sweeps us into a world of sugarplum fairies and magic, Edgar Degas captured a different side of the ballet world—the reality behind the performances onstage.
In 19th-century Paris, young ballerinas weren’t just chasing dreams; they were working relentlessly—training 10 to 12 hours a day, six or seven days a week, pushing themselves to the limit. Many of them joined the Paris Opera Ballet not for fame, but to help financially support their families. Their strength, hard work, and determination are the real magic behind the curtain.
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🖼 Edgar Degas, “Four Dancers,” 1899, oil on canvas, 59 x 70 in., Chester Dale Collection
¿Te suena esta obra? Quizá porque está hecha de algo que conocemos todos.
Aquí nuestro compañero, Chris, te cuenta más ⬇️
🖼️ Theaster Gates, “Ground Rules (black line),” 2015, wood flooring, 245 × 610 cm, Gift of the Collectors Committee