The oil painting The Engaged Couple painted 1868 oil on canvas by Pierre Auguste Renoir reminds me of how great it is to go to the theater.

The couple side by side, a beautiful woman, in a long formal dress with elegance, blossom in her hair and corsage.

Her companion a man dressed in black formal attire with handkerchief in his hand enjoying a wonderful event.

There are numerous couples that attend Broadway plays who are season ticket subscribers to Broadway productions tickets ranging from $20.00 for standing only to over $150.00 for plays such as Wicked.

From my experience, it doesn’t really matter what the play is about when it comes to Broadway (they are all excellent!!!) what makes a play enjoyable is the feeling you have attending such a pleasant and intriguing event with the one you love.

When was the last time you dressed in formal attire with a spouse or friend and attended a play? What a wonderful opportunity to take in the mood formal attire puts you in.

Theater is an opportunity to meet people before the play or during intermission while having cocktails or refreshments. When thinking of the grand oil paintings of Renoir with the beautiful big hat’s the woman wore and beautiful elegant table settings it makes me want to dress-up and go out on the town!

The next time you see an advertisement for a Broadway play, become Renoir’s couples and don’t forget to dance the night away…

Intruders, broke into a Parisian Museum and punched a hole in a renowned work by Impressionist painter Claude Monet.

A surveillance camera caught a group of drunken thugs entering the museum, which is the home of some major masterpieces of Impressionist artists, including the father of them all – Claude Monet.

An alarm sounded and the group fled the scene, not before they took a swing at the difensless Monet Masterpiece, “Le Pont d’Argenteuil.”

The painting could be restored, but the damage is heartbreaking. It always amazes me how an art object that is as important to the French as a Monet masterpiece gets violated in such an horrific manner.

The painting looked to have been punched in with a fist, it bore an horizontal tear about 4 inches in length that exposed threads of canvas.

French master, Claude Monet is considered by many as the father of the 19th century Impressionist movement, his masterpieces are sold by the millions and are deemed priceless.

“Le Pont d’Argenteuil”, the masterpiece that was violated, shows a view of the Seine at a rural bend, featuring a bridge and boats.

Global warming is a very serious issue. Former vice-president Al Gore recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for his continuous battle to educate the world about the effects of global warming. His search for finding methods to help stop global warming in the documentary film Inconvenient Truth was a turning point for many in the battle to save our ecosystem. We must as a society do all we can to stop what seems to be the destruction of our beautiful planet.

I recently had the privilege of gazing on a Claude Monet reproduction called Floating Ice- near Ventheuil, and my first impression was that this painting symbolizes global warming more then any other art piece I have seen even from more contemporary artists.

The splashing waters and breaking ice of the Monet masterpiece explains the changes of environment and lighting. Excellent conversation piece, even though Floating Ice near Vetheuil was painted many years ago, it evokes interest and depicts the changes that our planet is going through.

Dangers of changing climate I’m sure may not have been running through Monet’s mind as he began to imagine Floating Ice near Vetheuil. However, the water and its surroundings in the painting give insight on natural changes and the importance of recognizing differences in weather and natural conditions.

Claude Monet is not only the father of Impressionism, but his unique style and depiction of light and water make his works Environmentally Conscious as well. His art captures the shadows and movement of the waters, which makes his art very current and newsworthy due to global warming affects around the world.

Claude Monet has many oil paintings that have that “global warming conscious” feel, I don’t think it would be right to title him from an Impressionist to an Environmentalist but his appreciation of nature and love for the intricacies of light and water make him the father of Environmental Impressionism in my book.