Who were the grass-haters?

January 13, 2011 8:52 AM

Art History Anecdotes 101: a painter or group of painters (Impressionists?) sitting in a restaurant or cafe, demand that the curtains be closed because the grass outside was entirely the wrong hue of green. Who was it?

Vaguely remembered anecdote from Art History class in college. Might have been one (or more) of the Impressionists, possibly happened in Paris. I'm looking for a source, but may have gotten the details mixed up; my google-fu is returning nothing useful.

posted by zylocomotion to Media & Arts (2 answers total)

Best answer: This really doesn't sound like the Impressionists - they were huge fans of painting nature scenes "en plein aire" and attempting to capture the world exactly as they saw it. But I could be wrong.

If I had to guess, it sounds like a Dada stunt, or something post-Impressionist (maybe the Fauves? They were big into non-representational uses of color).
posted by Sara C. at 11:16 AM on January 13, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks, Sara - now that you mention it, it very well could have been the fauvists; it does sound more typical of them.
posted by zylocomotion at 7:13 PM on January 22, 2011