Combine your love of art and literature with the perfect art-themed book club adventure. This literary pairing will immerse you and your book club in the dynamic Parisian art scene. This artsy outing pairs a visit to an impressionist exhibit at the National Gallery of Art with reading Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell. This beautifully crafted novel delves into the life and love of Claude Monet and his muse, Camille Doncieux. Read on to find out how book clubs can combine literature and art for a wonderful day trip.
How to Make the Right Impression with the Perfect Art-Themed Book Club Adventure
I know, I know. I’m terrible at puns! But, really, this art-themed Book Club adventure to the National Gallery of Art really will leave a great impression on your book club. Even those who don’t like art will get into it. Here’s how to plan the perfect Money day in D.C. Scroll to the end for more curated book and art pairings. These novel ideas will help you plan additional art-themed book club adventures involving Picasso, Leonardo, and other famous artists.
First, Choose a Novel About an Impressionist Artist Such as: Claude and Camille
Claude and Camille, by Stephanie Cowell
Genre: Fiction
Stephanie Cowell’s novel transports art loving readers to 19th-century France. In the pages you’ll explore the vibrant and tumultuous life of Claude Monet in his early years as he struggles to establish himself as an artist. The novel is perfect for an art-themed book club adventure. Monet’s artistic journey is weaved in with his passionate and tragic love story with Camille Doncieux. It’s a story of Impressionist art at the beginning, just like what you’ll find at the Gallery of Art.
I thought the book started a little slow, but then once it gets going – wow! I have a whole new appreciation for how hard it is for artists to defy expectations and get recognized.
Perhaps You Prefer a Nonfiction Book for Your Artsy Book Club Adventure?
If you and your book club are more into non-ficiton books, no worries! The below books will enhance your visit to the National Gallery of Art or any art museum that has art by Impressionist painters.
The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism
Genre: Nonfiction
If you want to learn more about the impressionist era of art, this is the book for you! With a novelist’s skill and the insight of an historian, bestselling author Ross King recalls a seminal period when Paris was the artistic center of the world, and the rivalry between Meissonier and Manet.
This was the bonus book that the Novel Tourist Book Club paired with its day trip to the National Gallery of Art. Get ready to dive in-depth into the Impressionist era.
Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment
Genre: Nonfiction
This book was distributed just for the exhbit at the National Gallery of Art. It’s a perfect substitute if your book club can’t get to the exhbit itself. Inside you’ll discover art by not only Cézanne, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley, but also many other lesser-known participants. The focus is on the artists who exhibited their work at the official Salon in 1874. This is a milestone reunion of many of the show’s artworks, which include paintings, works on paper, prints, and sculptures, that made the exhibition held 150 years ago an event of international and lasting significance.
Where to go? Take Your Book Club to the National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art boasts an impressive collection of works by Monet, Renoir, Degas, and other masters of Impressionism. Highlights include Monet’s The Japanese Footbridge and The Houses of Parliament, Sunset. Exploring the gallery will bring the pages of the novel to life. Not only that, but you’ll view the paintings through the lens of what was going on in Monet’s life while he and his friends were radically shaking up the world of art.
To enhance your art-themed book club experience, consider booking a private guided tour. Alternatively, check the calendar for the public tours. You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for impressionist art and its connection to Monet’s story.
And Now: The Perfect Itinerary for your Art-Themed Book Club Adventure
You’ve picked your book and know where you’re headed. Hooray! Now, here are the little details to take your book club day trip over the top.
Start Your Book Club Art-venture with a Tour: French Art: Impressionism to the Early 20th Century
If you haven’t book a private tour, take the free noontime public tour: French Art: Impressionisim to the Early 20th Century. This is a one hour tour of the permanent section of the National Gallery of Art’s collection. The tour includes artists such as Monet, Cézanne, and Cassatt who each challenged the art establishment through their subject matter and techniques. You’ll also find other artists that are mentioned in fiction and nonfiction books about the Impressionist artists. Everything you see will give you and your book club friends a lot to discuss on the next stop of your literary adventure – lunch!
Lunch and book club discussion at Garden Cafe or Cascade Cafe
After your tour of the permanent exhibit, head to the Garden Cafe or Cascade Cafe for book discussion and lunch. If you go while the Paris 1874 Exhibit is on display, you can enhance your book club’s art-themed adventure by taking a culinary “tour” through Paris. Both cafes have special, limited-edition menu items inspired by the exhibition.
Some topics you may want to include in your book discussion are:
- How does the novel’s depiction of Monet compare to the artist’s works on display?
- What role does love and loss play in both the novel and Impressionist art?
- How does Camille’s presence influence Monet’s art and life?
- Did the novel change your impression (no pun intended!) of Monet or the other Impressionist artists?
Tour the Special Exhibit- Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment
Through January 19, 2025, you can go on the same remarkable art-themed book club adventure as The Novel Tourist Book Club. We paired reading Claude and Camille with a post lunch stroll through the temporary special exhibit: Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment. It’s an incredible collection of 130 works of the early impressionist. In the gallery you’ll find a number of paintings by the artists featured in the novel, such as Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, and Camille Pissarro. You’ll also get to know some of their lesser-known contemporaries. Cromwell’s book and the exhbit pair together so perfectly! Your book club members will leave with a better understand of the art norms these visionaries were rebelling against and the political and social shifts that sparked their new approach to art. Not to mention, Monet’s love life!
Getting Your Book Club There
Traveling to Washington, DC, from Philadelphia or other nearby locations is part of the adventure. Especially if you’re like the Novel Tourist Book Club and go the day after a major snow storm and the day before a presidential funeral! Eek! Hopefully, you and your book club are heading there during a less tumultous time. Here are two easy options that avoid driving and parking in D.C.. Both will give you more time for book discussion on the way to your artsy adventure:
1. Driving and Parking Outside D.C.
- Drive to a Metro station just outside Washington, DC, such as Greenbelt (Green Line) or Shady Grove (Red Line). Both stations have ample parking facilities.
- From there, take the Metro into the city. The National Gallery of Art is a short walk from the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Station (Green and Yellow Lines). Look for some Little Free Libraries on the way!
2. Take the Train
As a Philly-based book club, The Novel Tourist have easy access to a direct train to D.C.’s Union Station. Check Amtrak.com for trains near you.
Don’t forget to ask them about group discounts! Our book club’s day trip from Philadelphia to D.C. cost less than $30 per person. The earlier in advance you can plan, the cheaper!
- Board Amtrak at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and enjoy a relaxing ride to Washington Union Station.
- From Union Station, take the Metro Red Line to Gallery Place-Chinatown, then transfer to the Green or Yellow Line for one stop to Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter.
- Alternatively, Union Station is just over a mile from the museum, making it a pleasant walk through DC’s historic streets. You might even spy some Little Free Libraries on your walk!
Conclusion
A visit to the National Gallery of Art (or really any museum with works by impressionist artists), paired with a discussion of the novel Claude and Camille, is such a fun art-themed book club idea. This literary adventure in reading and real life will immerse your book club in the compelling story of one of era’s most famous artists while enjoying a day of art, literature, and camaraderie. I hope you enjoy it!
More Art-Themed Book Club Adventures
So many wonderful novels and nonfiction books pair perfectly with a book club trip to an art gallery. Here are some of my favorites that have inspired some of my own art-themed book club adventures in Philadelphia:
Picasso and the Barnes Museum
The Blue Period by Luke Jerod Kummer: A richly imagined portrait of Picasso’s coming of age that intertwines the love, death, lust, and friendships that inspired Picasso’s early works. The novel covers Picasso’s life from childhood through his early twenties, and specifically his life during the period known as The Blue Period.
The Novel Tourist Book Club paired reading Krummer’s book with a literary adventure to the Barnes Museum in Philadelphia. Check out the post for a step by step guide on where to find the Blue Period pieces on display. There are quite a few!
Michelangelo, Leonardo and Grounds for Sculpture
Oil and Marble by Stephanie Storey: A fictionalized rendering based on the real life interactions between painter, Leonardo da Vinci and sculptor, Michelangelo Buonarroti. The novel focuses on the time when they both lived and worked in Florence. I had no idea they were so competitive! Leonardo was a charming, handsome fifty year-old at the peak of his career. Michelangelo was a temperamental sculptor in his mid-twenties, desperate to make a name for himself.
The Novel Tourist Book Club paired the book with a literary stroll through Grounds for Sculpture for an art-themed book club adventure just outside of Trenton, New Jersey. What a place! It was really cool to see the life size sculptures of famous painting, especially of Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party.
Cassatt, Degas and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
I Always Loved You by Robin Oliviera: A love story capturing Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas’ great romance. According to the artist, “The first sight of Degas’ pictures was the turning point of my artistic life.” Did you know Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania? Not only did Cassatt make a significant impact on the art world in general, she changed the minds of the art elite in Philadelphia!
The Novel Tourist Book Club paired this re-creation of the irresistible Cassat’s Parisan world with a book discussion and tour of the Mary Cassatt at Work exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Although the special exhibit has ended, there are plenty of Cassatt’s works on display in the permanent collection.
Have you read any other novels inspired by Impressionist or other artists? Spread the love and share the titles in the comments!
Want to Start Your Own Book Club?
I started The Novel Tourist Book Club as a way to meet others who wanted to discuss book and do stuff. I had just moved to Philadelphia and didn’t know anyone! Six years later the book club is 1,500 members strong and growing. We’ve visited almost 100 spots in the Philadelphia area and discussed over 50 books on our adventures in reading and real life. Here are my best tips on how to start your own literary adventure book club. It’s fun!
Before I started the Novel Tourist Book Club, I was not really a fan of art. It didn’t capture my attention. But, then I started reading novels inspired by artists. I got to know the person behid the art. I found it particularly interesting to know what was going on in their lives at the time of the painting. Suddenly, the art had more meaning to me. I hope this post inspires you, too!
However, if you’re more into arts and crafts, check out these craft focused art-themed book club activities like making paper flowers from book pages and turning books into clocks!
Happy reading and adventuring!
