"De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period" is a short story by J. D. Salinger about John Smith, a man living with his step-father in New York after the death of his mother. Desiring to escape his situation, he pads his resume and is accepted as an instructor at an art academy in Montreal. Examining students' art by mail, Smith dismisses two of the students and encourages a nun, who later cuts off her correspondence. The short story centers around Smith's aesthetic epiphany towards the end, with themes of beauty, independence and egoism.
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