A year ago, on April 15, 2019, Chizuru Morii Kaplan was in Paris painting images of the city, when Notre-Dame cathedral caught on fire. By the time it was extinguished, the building's spire collapsed, most of its roof had been destroyed, and its upper walls severely damaged. Many works of art and religious relics suffered smoke damage, and some exterior art was damaged or destroyed.

Although Kaplan has presented paintings of Paris in the past, these finished works have a special poignancy. Hauntingly beautiful, they are a tribute and reminder of the enduring beauty of Paris.