Claude Monet also known as Oscar Claude Monet or Claude Oscar Monet (14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a founder of
French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing
one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. The term Impressionism is derived
from the title of his painting Impression, Sunrise.
Émile François Zola (2 April 1840 – 29 September 1902) was an influential French writer, the most important exemplar of the
literary school of naturalism, an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism, and a major figure in
the political liberalisation of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus.
William Somerset Maugham (pronounced 'mawm'), CH (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist
and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era, and reputedly, the highest paid author during the
1930s.
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a leading Post-Impressionist painter. His bold experimentation with
colouring led directly to the Synthetist style of modern art while his expression of the inherent meaning of the subjects
in his paintings, under the influence of the cloisonnist style, paved the way to Primitivism and the return to the pastoral.
He was also an influential exponent of wood engraving and woodcuts as art forms.
Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American virtuoso cellist and composer and winner of multiple Grammy Awards.
He is one of the most revered cellists of the 20th and 21st centuries. He is also a highly accomplished musician on the piano,
viola, and violin.
Edgar Degas (19 July 1834 – 27 September 1917), born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work
in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected
the term, and preferred to be called a realist. A superb draughtsman, he is especially identified with the subject of the
dance, and over half his works depict dancers.
