Paris, France — The Musée d’Orsay is one of the most visited museums in the French capital and in addition to its fine temporary exhibitions, the main draw is arguably its collection of Impressionist works, the largest in the world. But the Impressionists weren’t always on everybody’s bucket list. The movement dawned officially 150 years ago on April 15th, 1874, when a group of artists including Monet, Renoir, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley and Cézanne, outsiders to the mainstream art of the day, decided to, well open up their own show, marking the birth of Impressionism. There are no photographs of the show, attended by just 3,500 visitors (the official Salon in comparison brought in over 300,000 visitors that year) and was held in the former studio of the photographer Nadar at 35 Boulevard des Capucines on the Right Bank of the Seine. And in a nod to novelty, it was also open late in the evening replete with gas lighting. It would launch one of the most famous artistic movements in the world: Impressionism. The Musée d’Orsay is celebrating this anniversary with a major exhibition of its own entitled Paris 1874. Inventing Impressionism. With some 130 works on exhibition it aims to offer a new perspective on this key period in the world of art. This exhibition is organized by the Musée d’Orsay and the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., where it will be presented from September 8, 2024 to January 19, 2025.

The show brings together a selection of works that featured in that very first exhibition back in 1874 which was held on the heels of two wars: the Franco-German War of 1870 which was lost to Prussia followed by a violent civil war in France known as the Commune of Paris, the insurrection of Paris against the French government in 1871. Within a context of crisis artists began exploring new directions and fresh perspectives on their art. That was when Monet, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro and their friends and colleagues — who were by and large rejected by the academic system in place — grouped together to form a “cooperative limited company” in order to exhibit their work in the very heart of modern Paris. These were artists who walked out of the studio and began painting outdoors in the streets, in meadows, parks and gardens and woods and by the sea. The Musée d’Orsay show is also presenting paintings and sculptures shown in the same year at the official Salon with the typical religious and historical subjects.

There are remarkable Impressionist works to be seen at the show including Claude Monet’s Sunrise, Renoir’s Dancer, At the Races in the Countryside by Degas and Paul Cézanne’s A Modern Olympia with its dazzling colors. In a second exhibition gallery an immersive virtual reality experience is on the agenda in which the Musée d’Orsay invites visitors to spend An Evening with the Impressionists. Equipped with a time traveling headset you can stroll through their world. The first Impressionist auction was held at the Parisian auction house of the Hôtel Drouot, organised by Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Berthe Morisot, one of the rare women Impressionists. It was a phenomenal failure as most hammer prices did not exceed 250 francs. In May of 2019 Sotheby’s auctioned off Monet’s Haystacks for a record US$110.7 million, double its estimate. The Inventing Impressionism exhibition is on until July 14th and will head to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. from September 8th until January 19th 2025. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette. https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en