The art of the Impressionists has enduring appeal. Exhibitions on impressionism and impressionist artists continue to draw large crowds. Yet very little has been published that focuses on the intimate nature of much of impressionist art.Presenting over fifty works by major artists such as Bonnard, Corot, Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet, Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec, and using the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection of small French paintings in the National Gallery of Art as its starting point, this beautifully illustrated new volume explores two important aspects of impressionism. First, it illustrates how artists like Monet, Pissarro, Degas, Cezanne, Sisley and Renoir sought to capture fleeting, everyday moments and objects that made up their own lives and those of the people around them: their immediate family, friends, servants and strangers. The scale and subject matter was in stark contrast to the paintings of the official Salon. In place of large-scale academic or neoclassical...