On April 15, 1874, a controversial exhibition opened in Paris. Unveiled just two weeks before the annual Salon, the official French showcase of current art, this anomalous spectacle at 35 boulevard des Capucines was more than an daring, independent presentation—it was a statement of dissent on behalf of the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc., the avant-garde group who would come to be known as the Impressionists.
A century and a half later, such tame scenes of leisurely ladies and ethereal landscapes may not seem quite so radical, but they prompted a seismic shift in the trajectory of art.
The Salon had wielded a practical monopoly over public taste since the late 17th century, when the French monarchy began to sponsor occasional exhibitions of work by members of the Royal Academy. As such, "academic" art—inspired by the ancient classical world, the European tradition, and historical subjects—was prized as the gold standard. Eventually, the Salon evolved into an annual event that maintained influence through the 19th century.
Select disruptions to the status quo were tolerated—such as works by Realists Gustave Courbet (1819–1877), Jean-François Millet (French, 1814–1875), and Édouard Manet (French, 1832–1883), to name a few—but the rebels who participated in the inaugural Impressionist exhibition were expressly barred from submitting to the Salon that year. This was of little consequence to Claude Monet (French, 1840–1926), for example, whose unorthodox images were repeatedly rejected by the establishment anyway.
Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1874), on view at the first Impressionist exhibition and now at the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, was promptly denounced as an “impression” by the critic Louis Leroy. To Leroy's eye, the painting’s spontaneous brushwork and unblended colors appeared more like a sketch than a complete work of art. Of course, the group famously commandeered the insult and went on to refer to themselves as “Impressionists.”
Also remarkable among the Impressionists’ works was the decision to depict fleeting moments in modern life. In stark contrast to the sober Salon-sanctioned paintings that so meticulously rendered legendary subjects from history and mythology, these revolutionary compositions were decidedly ephemeral, intuitive, atmospheric, and colorful, making use of new synthetic pigments such as cerulean blue and ultramarine.
The shared desire to push back against the Salon’s omnipotence was essentially what united the Impressionists, each of whom approached their art differently. While Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917) captured the buzzing energy of urban Paris, immortalizing singers and dancers in the studio and onstage, Berthe Morisot (French, 1841–1895), the only female member of the first Impressionist exhibition, lent her canvases to modern women.
Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903) was the only artist to participate in all eight Impressionist exhibitions, which occurred between 1874 and 1886. Philosophical differences among the artists caused fracturing and falling out, and members came and went until modern art moved on to the likes of Post-Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism. While the Impressionist movement was relatively brief, its beauty and influence endure.
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