Join Pulitzer Prize winning art critic, Sebastian Smee, for an afternoon of captivating storytelling about the dramatic events that gave rise to the Impressionist movement. Drawing from his acclaimed and highly debated book Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism, Smee takes us back to 1870–1871, when Paris was besieged, starved, and shaken by civil war. In the aftermath, a small group of painters embraced the fragility of life, capturing fleeting moments in light, color, and movement. Hear how crisis transformed art forever, and why Impressionism’s vision still resonates today.