![](https://www.cpr.org/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,quality=75,format=auto/https://wp-cpr.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/05/monet.jpg)
When you think of French art, images of pastel-colored lily pads, glowing haystacks and tutu’d ballerinas come to mind. But what do famous works by artists like Monet, Manet and Matisse say about the times in which they were created? A new exhibition at the Denver Art Museum features three centuries of French art, and it aims to broaden our understanding of this extremely influential chapter of cultural history. It explores the way in which artistic developments mirrored what was happening on the political and social scene. Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner chats with Angelica Daneo, associate curator of painting and sculpture at the museum, and with CPR's arts editor, Chloe Veltman.
[Image: The Beach at Trouville, Claude Monet, 1870.]