Surrounded by gardens designed to complement those of Monet, the building that houses the Musée fits naturally into the traditional setting of this small Norman village and the surrounding countryside. Inside, the works on display are viewed in the same natural light in which they were created.

Inaugurated in 1992, the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny was founded by the American businessman and art collector, Daniel J. Terra and his wife, Judith.

Created as a celebration of the ties between American and French art, the Musée was built just a few steps away from the house and gardens of Claude Monet in the village of Giverny, where scores of young American painters came to work in the presence of the master of Impressionism between 1887 and 1914.

At the end of the nineteenth century, hundreds of young American painters came to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts -- and also to master the new impressionist techniques. Many of them journeyed to the French countryside, staying in communities such as Fontainebleau, Pontoise, Auvers-sur-Oise and, especially, Giverny.

This exhibition is a tribute to these talented artists whose choice of subject matter, brushwork and vibrant colors give their paintings the fresh spontaneity typical of the impressionists.

Simple in design, bathed in light, and on an intimate scale, the Musée consists of one gallery devoted to its permanent exhibition, Giverny, an American Impression, two galleries for temporary exhibitions, a 200-seat auditorium, an art boutique and a restaurant.