Impressionism Timeline

Impressionism is one of the most popular art movements of all time. However, that was not always the case as for years it was disregarded by art critics. It first rose to popularity in the US and not in France, where it originated. Over time, the Impressionist fever imploded on a global scale resulting in countless blockbuster exhibitions, merchandise, books and more recently, films. This timeline explores the main events that paved the way for the emergence of Impressionism. 

1860s

• Early development of Impressionism in Paris. Artists like Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Alfred Sisley and others start experimenting with new ways of seeing. They focus on capturing light, movement, and impressions with short and visible dabs of colorful paint rather than realistic representations.
• Key figures of the movement, such as Monet and Renoir, turn their attention to suburban and rural leisure outside of Paris which becomes accessible due to the recently installed railroad. 
• Contrary to the Barbizon school, artists that favored plein-air or outdoor painting like Monet included signs of industrialization in their portrayals. This reveals their enduring interest in progress.
• Over the decade many artists are introduced to Japanese prints, which turn into a great influence.

1870

• Pissarro and Monet meet one of the most influential art dealers of all time, Paul Durand-Ruel, largely credited for promoting the Impressionist style Monet later followed. Eventually, Durand-Ruel would also become Monet’s long-lasting dealer.
• Edgar Degas, later a main figure of the movement, manifests his discontent with the Salon system in an article that appeared in the newspaper Paris Journal.

1872

• Claude Monet paints Impression Sunrise, a composition that later gives name to the Impressionist movement. 

1873

• A group of innovative artists create a group named Société anonyme cooperative d’artistes-peintres, sculpteurs, et graveurs. Among the founding members were the soon-to-be-known Impressionists Sisley, Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. This group would organize the first Impressionist exhibition. 

The Impressionist Exhibitions (1874-1886)

1874

• As part of the efforts to find alternate routes to the restricting Paris Salon system, sponsored by the State, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Auguste Renoir organize a group exhibition at the vacated studio of photographer and caricaturist Nadar. The only female artist to join is Berthe Morisot, an important figure in the movement. 
• The event, later known as the first Impressionist exhibition, is followed by seven more between 1874 and 1886, with the number of participating artists ranging from nine to thirty. Pissarro was the only artist that participated in all of them.
• Monet’s Impression, Sunrise, is largely criticized for its unfinished appearance and loose handling of composition. Subsequently, after the derisive words written by journalist Louis Leroy about the artwork, the artists start to call themselves Impressionists.
• Alongside the innovative brushwork and subject matter, the vibrant palette of most of the participating artists is possible due to the increasing development of synthetic pigments providing vibrant shades of blue, green and yellow that painters had never used before. 
• While largely ignored, American artist Mary Cassatt, who moved to Paris this year, would become artistically and economically central to most of the Impressionist exhibitions.

1876

• The second Impressionist exhibition with 252 paintings takes place at Durand-Ruel’s Gallery, in Paris. 
• The group continues to face criticism but begins to attract a small following.
• During this year, the first comprehensive text on the artists’s work by Edmond Duranty was published. Revealing the group’s non-definitive name, it was titled The New Painting: Concerning the Group of Painters.
• Artist Gustave Caillebotte joins the exhibition and becomes one of the group’s main financial supporters.

1877

• The third Impressionist exhibition is held in a rented bourgeois apartment adapted with subdividing panels that provided a more intimate setting for the works. This was a common practice in the subsequent exhibitions, at least until 1881.
• Edgar Degas joins the group, introducing themes of urban leisure and entertainment. Soon after Degas states no Impressionist artist should join the Salon. He invites Mary Cassatt to join the group of independent artists which she actively promotes.
• From this moment on, the paintings start to be displayed in white frames, which would be known as “the Impressionist frames,” and the exhibition walls were painted in colors, both an innovation at the time.

1879

• The fourth Impressionist exhibition takes place. By now, the movement started gaining more recognition and acceptance.
• Mary Cassatt participated in her first Impressionist exhibition with more than ten works including Little Girl in a Blue Armchair, which she reworked with her friend Edgar Degas. She then joins three more exhibitions.

1880-1882

• More Impressionist exhibitions are held (fifth, sixth, and seventh), showcasing the evolving styles of the artists. These exhibitions help to attract public interest gradually.
• Increasingly the founding artists of the group decide to stop participating. However, Degas continues to exhibit leaving its mark in the 1871 exhibition.

1883

• Durand-Ruel organizes an exhibition in his gallery of nearly 60 Monet paintings, with not one single one selling. He also organizes individual exhibitions for Renoir, Pissarro, and Sisley.

1886

• The eighth and final Impressionist exhibition is held. 
• This exhibition marks the beginning of a new phase of avant-garde art as by this time only a few of the participants were working in an Impressionist style. Some of the artists working with new forms of expression were  Paul Signac and Georges Seurat, who introduced Pointillism with his painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. Next to this, other artists like Paul Gaugin experimented with Primitivism, and the nascent Symbolist Odilon Redon also joins.
• Key figures associated with the style, like Monet and Renoir, exhibit elsewhere, mainly motivated to show in spaces where their work was going to sell. 
• The movement started to get attention in the US thanks to Mary Cassatt and the exhibition of nearly 300 paintings Durand-Ruel put together at the American Art Galleries in New York. This also leaves a mark on the work of American artists working in this style. An example is William Merritt Chase.

Late 1880s-1890s

• The core Impressionist group begins to dissolve as many of the artists start exploring new directions in their art. Post-Impressionism emerges, led by artists like Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, and Georges Seurat.
• Impressionism continues to garner commercial success mainly in the US which reflects in Durand-Ruel and some other artists like Monet dramatically improving their finances.
• Over time, American painters also travel to Giverny, close to Paris, to paint close to Monet who was already a revered figure. However, he was also criticized by some of the original group members like Pissarro for his commercialist approach and for following the same painting language for so long.

1890s-1920s

• Impressionism continues to influence a variety of art movements that emerge during this period, including Neo-Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism.
• Artists like Degas and Monet, both break records in the price paid for the work of  living artists, which shows the growing popularity they have.

Early 20th Century

• Impressionism is fully recognized as a significant and influential art movement. Museums around the world begin collecting and exhibiting Impressionist works.

Interesting Facts:

• Impressionism was characterized by a focus on light and its changing qualities, often with an emphasis on the effects of time, atmosphere, and seasonality.
• Following the Barbizon School of Painters, the artists often worked outdoors (plein air) to capture the essence of light. This was largely possible due to the recently created tube paints. 
• Impressionist paintings are known for their loose brushwork and vibrant colors.
• The movement was initially met with resistance from traditional art institutions in France, leading the artists to organize independent exhibitions. 
• Impressionism laid the groundwork for various modern art movements and radically changed the way artists think about light, color, and form.
• Durand-Ruel was a key figure in this movement and largely responsible for its ultimate success. He staged Impressionist exhibitions in his gallery and abroad, provided a stipend to artists and bought many of the their works. As proof of this, over forty years he bought about 1,000 Monets, 1,500 Renoirs, 800 Pissarros, 200 Manets, and 400 works by Degas, Sisley and Cassatt.
• While Impressionist women artists were often relegated, they had a crucial role in the group. For instance, Berthe Morisot joined the group in its early years and Mary Cassatt was instrumental in promoting it overseas.
• Even if the Impressionists created a recognizable style of painting, over time many of the artists experimented with varied avenues of expression and departed from the group.