French Impressionism is the centerpiece of this course, which will explore paintings, and some sculptures, produced between 1848 and 1906.We consider French, Dutch, and Scandinavian artists who painted and exhibited in Paris during these years, exploring not only their historical stature and reputation, but their contemporary relevance. We will reflect on such myths of modernism as the "Misogyny' of Degas; the "obsessiveness" of Cezanne; the "primitivism" of Gauguin; and, of course, the "madness" of Van Gogh. All art is considered within the context of the social, economic and political changes that were taking place in Paris--the capital of the nineteenth-century.