In 1886 Alexander Reid, a young Glasgow art dealer shared accommodation in Paris with Vincent Van Gogh, while training with Theo.  What a connection for Reid!  He was introduced by the brothers to major French artists such as Monet and the Impressionists, Whistler, Rodin, Toulouse Lautrec and the Post-Impressionists.  The modern French art which Reid brought back to Glasgow inspired the Glasgow Boys and the Glasgow Girls and the Scottish Colourists to train and paint in France.  Key inventions had changed art history.  In 1841 John Goffe Rand invented the collapsible paint tube.   Jean Renoir said that without it there would have been no Impressionism.  The same tin was used to form ferrules which held bristles on brushes and made large flat brushes possible – no doubt a great help to Cezanne and the development of Cubism.   The chemist Jean-Baptist Guimet invented artificial ultramarine to match the hugely expensive lapis lazuli and make it affordable for young artists to paint large areas of sky and water.  Following the invention of the camera, blurred early photographs suggested movement and impressions of nature – Monet had four cameras!  Meanwhile recently discovered Japanese art presented new subjects, techniques and compositions.  From 1824 Chevreul, as Director of the Royal Tapestry factory developed his colour theories which aided Seurat, Matisse, Derain the Post Impressionists and therefore the Scottish Colourists in their use of bright colours.   By the 1880s trains could travel up to 80 miles per hour and an expanding network of tracks enabled artists to travel more quickly from Scotland to Paris, to the countryside and to the coast across France.   This was a fascinating period and my vibrant slides will brighten up even the darkest day of winter for your society.