In Focus Tour: Collecting Impressionism at LACMA
- Fri, Jan 23, 2026
- 1:30 pm - 2 pm PT
- Resnick Pavilion | LACMA
-
Free with museum admission
Join a LACMA docent for a 30-minute tour of Collecting Impressionism at LACMA.
Inspired by breakthroughs in industry and technology, visual culture in the final quarter of the 19th century in France expanded well beyond the traditional media of painting, sculpture, and drawing to include advances in printmaking, photography, decorative arts, and fashion. Yet, 150 years later, French Impressionism single-handedly defines this period at American art museums. Unpacking the reasons why, Collecting Impressionism at LACMA offers a surprising narrative about the people and artists who shaped LACMA, interrogating how trends in “taste” inform the museum’s collection. From early acquisitions of American and California Impressionism to donations of paintings by Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro from major Hollywood collectors, art was a tool of cultural legitimization that helped the institution grow in tandem with a developing city. Collecting Impressionism at LACMA illuminates the ways in which museum collections are constructed, and by extension, suggests how visitors can read the museum as a site of changing taste and changing narratives.
Please be aware that these tours are volunteer-led and subject to cancellation. Ask a member of our team on the day for details.
All education and outreach programs at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Education Fund.
Major support is provided by
Generous additional support is provided by the Judy and Bernard Briskin Family Foundation, Capital Group, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, William Randolph Hearst Endowment Fund for Arts Education, Alfred E. Mann Charities, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Gloria Ricci Lothrop, Flora L. Thornton Foundation, U.S. Bank, and The Yabuki Family Foundation.
Image Credit: Claude Monet, Nymphéas, c. 1897–98, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mrs. Fred Hathaway Bixby Bequest, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
All education and outreach programs at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Education Fund.
Major support is provided by
Generous additional support is provided by the Judy and Bernard Briskin Family Foundation, Capital Group, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, William Randolph Hearst Endowment Fund for Arts Education, Alfred E. Mann Charities, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Gloria Ricci Lothrop, Flora L. Thornton Foundation, U.S. Bank, and The Yabuki Family Foundation.
Image Credit: Claude Monet, Nymphéas, c. 1897–98, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mrs. Fred Hathaway Bixby Bequest, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA