Chasing Clouds October 18, 2026

I have always been a cloud watcher. They can be beautiful, varied and at times an ominous weather predictor. Clouds have remained a source of inspiration for artists through the ages. The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents Chasing Clouds, (through 2/27) an exhibition that explores the enduring human impulse to represent one of nature’s most ephemeral subjects: clouds. Spanning the early 19th to the early 20th century, the exhibition traces artists’ efforts to observe and depict the ever-changing sky and considers how the advent of photography introduced new possibilities for capturing this elusive subject. Bringing together works by John Constable, Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Le Gray, John Singer Sargent, Alfred Stieglitz, and others from The Met’s collection, the exhibition spans plein air paintings and drawings—created outdoors in direct observation of nature—as well as photographs, all examining how artists across mediums developed inventive approaches to capturing the natural world at a time when clouds were also being increasingly studied by scientists. I discovered in my cloud searching that there is a Cloud Appreciation Society and if you, like me are a cloud watcher check this out. The meme in the middle just cracked me up so I added it too.