The Re-discovery of Light and Colour:
The Impressionists and
Post-Impressionists
The Courtauld Gallery, London
Saturday 13th September 2025
10.30am – 2.00pm
with Mary Attwood
£40
The Courtauld Gallery in London is home to one of the greatest art collections in the UK, located in the magnificent historical setting of Somerset House.
During this half day visit, we will explore a selection of paintings by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Van Gogh, Manet and others, all of whom were pioneering artists who changed what was accepted as ‘art’ forever. In the years following the French Revolution, the growth of industrialisation, and Romanticism in art, the French impressionists sought to bring a new light and colour to works of art, capturing fleeting moments, and with an emphasis on naturalism. The growth of the suburb was a completely new ‘place’ and way of life that developed in France, and it was this that initially drew the early Impressionists to discover not just new subject matter, but new ways of seeing the world.
The post- Impressionists focused on emotional expression, symbolism, challenging traditional perspectival depth and space in painting, and the ways in which colour was used. We will spend time with each work of art with a focus on your own responses, historical context and the deeper ways art from the past helps us understand the world today – and ourselves.
We will meet just outside the main entrance of the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, at 10.30am. This half day visit will take place on Saturday 13th September 2025 and will run from 10.30 am-1pm. At 1pm we will have lunch and discuss any observations and questions you might have.
