Namesake of Impressionism debuts in US

An Impressionist masterpiece that birthed one of art history’s most important movements is making its US debut. Claude Monet completed his green-gray vision of the harbor at Le Havre in a single sitting and titled the work Impression, Sunrise – unwittingly giving Impressionism its name.

First staged at the Musée d’Orsay, the show at Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art seeks to recreate the first Impressionist exhibition held in 1874, when a group of radical artists defied the rules of the Paris Salon to exhibit their work. “It will invite visitors to immerse themselves in this decisive moment, a major rupture in the history of art,” the Musée d’Orsay’s president said.