Morning on the Boulevard is a tribute to Paris, the City of Lights!  Many of the buildings date back hundreds of years reminding us of that era when Claude Monet, Pissaro, Renoir and countless other artists painted there.

On my first visit to Paris, I was delighted to discover that the Paris of the Impressionists is still very
much with us. The tradition of street vendors and sidewalk cafes is alive and well, and has been the source of much artwork and literature.  Morning on the Boulevard features the famous Champs d’Élysée, the most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris.  It was during the time that I painted this painting that I painted under the brush name of Robert Girrard (1984-1989). These valued images are released in very limited quantities.

The City of Lights inspires many memories for me, both as an artist and as a romantic. When my wife Nanette and I were first married we promised each other that on some future anniversary we would visit Paris for the first time together. On our third anniversary we fulfilled that dream, and my artistic heart was forever changed.Wandering the city I was greeted by the same boulevards that inspired master impressionists like Monet, Pissarro and Renoir a century ago. I couldn’t resist donning my beret and attempting to embody their artistic vision of color and light. In Morning on the Boulevard I create a mood of classic impressionism with a subject befitting the French masters of the past. Spreading chestnut trees, horse drawn carriages, and period fashions suggest a genteel era, and the vigorous brushstrokes and dappled sunlight is pure impressionism. This is a sunny summer morning that suggests a “boulevard of dreams” from long ago.

~ Thomas Kinkade