Between 1882 and 1890, the township of Asnières, a northwest suburb of Paris, was changing drastically. Industrialization in France was in full force, and coal, gas, and manufacturing facilities were cropping up in Asnières, much to the chagrin of residents who lounged along its river banks on summer afternoons. For Post-Impressionist artists, the industrial invasion created fertile grounds for inspiration. As Vincent van Gogh wrote in a letter, “the bringing together of extremes—the countryside as a whole and the bustle here [in the city]—gives me new ideas.” In 1884, Georges Seurat painted Bathers at Asnières, a masterpiece of Pointillism that sees smoke rising beyond a pastoral scene. Three years later, Van Gogh painted the yellowing field that fronted small houses and factory smokestacks in Factories at Clichy. This exhibition presents 75 paintings by Post-Impressionists who captured the town during that decade of change. —Elena Clavarino