A provocative new exhibit opening today at the Baltimore Museum of Art is asking whether the chemical-riddled haze that blanketed London and Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries contributed to the creation of some of the world’s most famous paintings.

“Air Quality: The Influence of Smog on European Modernism” is a small exhibit of nine artworks that explores a big question: Whether the work of such seminal Impressionist painters as Claude Monet and the Post-Impressionist artists Henri Matisse and James McNeill Whistler could have existed without an atmosphere so foul that it was hazardous to human health.

Whoever thought that desecrating the environment could have an upside?

“Smog and the effects industrialization — whether it inspired artists or repelled them — was a significant characteristic of European Modernist works,” BMA director Asma Naeem said in a museum news release. “Today, as we consider the role of artists within climate dialogues, it is fascinating to reflect on the longstanding impact of the environment on creative production.”

The show, which runs for more than a year, is part of “Turn Again to the Earth,” a series of initiatives at the museum aimed at increasing the institution’s efforts to adopt environmentally sustainable practices, and at sparking discussion about climate change.

“Air Quality” is among three free exhibits opening at the BMA this month that will focus on environmental themes.

“Watershed: Transforming the Landscape in Early Modern Dutch Art” also debuts Sunday and runs through July 27 and explores how water impacted the development of what is now The Netherlands.

The approximately 40 paintings and works on paper in the exhibit are drawn from the museum’s collection — including a 1650 etching by Rembrandt van Rijn titled, “View of the Diemerdijk with a Milkman and Cottages.”

Finally, on Feb. 26, the BMA will reopen its Contemporary Wing, which will have a new emphasis on nature and the environment. The inaugural exhibit, “Crosscurrents,” will include 67 artworks, about half of which are on view for the first time.

Those include Justen Leroy’s 2022 video installation on three channels, “Lay Me Down in Praise,” which features slow-moving footage of volcanic eruptions, glacial melt and other geological events set to a soundtrack informed by blues, R&B, gospel, and jazz.

“Even though we may think of the environment as a contemporary preoccupation, nature and the climate have always played a critical role in art making, from cave drawings to our current moment,” Naeem told The Sun.

“I am convinced that visitors to the BMA during our yearlong initiative will learn something new, as well as be struck by the how artists have unearthed so many beautiful materials and taught us how to see the beauty and awe of the natural world.”

All three exhibits are thought-provoking in different ways. But “Air Quality’s” counterintuitive nature and big-name showpieces may make it the exhibit that most easily sparks museumgoers’ curiosity.

The exhibit, which was organized by Chief Curator Kevin Tervala, includes a series of artworks likely to stop visitors in their tracks — such as Monet’s “Waterloo Bridge (Sunlight Effects with Smoke)” in which a patchy blue sky appears to almost weigh down a patchy, darker blue body of water.

As Monet himself wrote in 1900: “When I got up, I was terrified to see that there was no fog, not even a wisp of mist. I was prostrate, and could just see all my paintings done for, but gradually the fires [of residential homes and business places filled with coal] were lit and the smoke and haze came back.”

Similarly, the atmosphere is so muddy in Whistler’s painting, “Battersea,” that the images of two human figures in the foreground appears to blur and dissolve as if they were melting.

Accompanying the artworks are wall texts that include data from climate scientists that lists the fine particulate matter in the air — in other words, smog — at the times the specific artworks were created.

For instance, London in 1903, when Monet painted “Waterloo Bridge,” contains about 570.5 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter, or more that double the amount considered safe today.

According to the wall text, that level of smog (a combination of fog, smoke and atmospheric pollutants) meant that the “general public [was] at high risk of experiencing strong irritations and adverse side effects. Should avoid outdoor activities.”

And even that toxic air represented an improvement from the London of 15 years earlier, when Whistler painted “Battersea.” At that time, the wall text included 616 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter.

In contrast, the air quality in Baltimore between 2020 and 2022 averaged a “satisfactory” rating of just 7.7 micrograms of fine particles per cubic meter, according to the wall text, indicating that it posed “little or no risk” to human health.

During that same period, the air quality in relatively polluted, wildfire-prone Los Angeles was rated as a “moderate” 13.3 micrograms of fine particles or cubic meter, a rate at which, according to the wall text, “sensitive individuals should avoid outdoor activity” or run the risk of experiencing breathing problems.

The notorious London and Paris smog has been attributed to the widespread practice at the time of burning coal for fuel.

“It was both a nuisance and a health hazard that blocked the sun, soured the air, and increased the death rates of city dwellers,” the news release said. “But smog also was visually stimulating, and helped Monet see his urban environment in new ways.”

“Air Quality: The Influence of Smog on European Modernism” runs through Aug. 3, and again from Aug. 13 through Feb. 22, 2026 at the Baltimore Museum of Art at N. Charles and 31st Streets in Baltimore. Admission is free.

Have a news tip? Contact Mary Carole McCauley at mmccauley@baltsun.com and 410-332-6704.