Paris 1874, the Impressionist Moment
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
September 8, 2024–January 19, 2025
Reviewed by Ed Voves
Visitors to the Paris 1874 exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., no sooner walk through the entrance to the galleries than they are greeted by two of the greatest paintings of the nineteenth century. Both were contemporary works of art and were first exhibited the same year, one hundred and fifty years ago. The sesquicentennial observance of the First Impressionist Exposition, which opened on April 15, 1874, serves as the inspiration for this outstanding exhibition.
Paris 1874, the Impressionist Moment is a collaborative effort of the National Gallery and the Musee d’Orsay, Paris. A dazzling array of 125 works of art, predominantly paintings and a selection of sculptures, from the rich collections of both museums is complemented by significant loans from other institutions. The lenders include the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Musée Marmottan in Paris and the Stadel Museum of Frankfurt, Germany.
This is a beautifully mounted exhibition which devotes equal attention to the Paris Salon of 1874 and the first Impressionist exhibit. The curators wisely chose to integrate Salon and Impressionist artworks in thematic arrangements. Rather than confining works of art from the 1874 Salon and from the rival Impressionist presentation in separate galleries, the curators have evoked the cultural setting of 1870's France in which both of these legendary displays were held.
The two paintings which introduce Paris 1874 - Jean-Léon Gérôme’s L'Éminence Grise (1873) and Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872) were not on the best of terms one hundred-fifty years ago.
Each of the paintings was displayed at a rival venue, one being the official Paris Salon, where Gérôme’s history painting was unveiled to popular acclaim.
The other exhibition was presented by an artist cooperative known as the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc. The location of the exposition was the vacant studio of the photographer, Nadar, who had just moved to a new site. Nadar had earlier paid the rent for his old studio for the month of April 1874. Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissarro, Cezanne and twenty-six other artists, most of them "refused" by the Salon, were thus enabled to mount their own exhibit.
It should be noted that one of the participating artists in the group presentation in Nadar's old studio was a young woman. Associating "with madmen ... at some peril" (as her art teacher wrote with horror) was Berthe Morisot. Her exquisite The Cradle, painted in 1872, was a highlight of the 1874 Impressionist exhibit. One of the treasures of the Musee d’Orsay, it is now on view in the National Gallery show.
Radically different, too, were the effects of the two exhibitions, immediate and long-term. Gérôme's L'Éminence Grise won the Salon's medal of honor. Monet's masterpiece earned a derisive sobriquet which was soon applied to the paintings of his colleagues, as well: Impressionist.
At the National Gallery, today, this contentious stand-off continues in the opening display of paintings.
Gérôme’s L'Éminence Grise and Monet’s Impression, Sunrise confront each other like two opposing duelists.
Viewing L'Éminence Grise and Impression, Sunrise, one feels like a “second” at the duel. The paintings hang, not together on the gallery wall, but “back-to-back” in the manner of gentlemen defending their honor. They appear poised to walk the requisite ten paces, pistols in hand, turn and at the command -
Fire!
As contrived, even absurd, as this may sound, the actual events surrounding the
advent of Impressionism were even more contentious – and confused - than this
imagined scenario conveys.
Jean-Leon Gérôme (1824-1904) was the greatest of French academic painters,
whose meticulous scenes of history and oriental sensuality commanded huge prices. L'Éminence
Grise accurately and evocatively recreates a famous story from French
history. It is a brilliant example of the works of art which made Gérôme
such a formidable figure in the nineteenth century art world.
Gérôme detested the “New Painting” innovations of the likes of Edouard Manet whom he scorned as “the apostle of decadent fashion, the art of the fragment..." Gérôme remained the implacable foe of Impressionism until the day he died.
Claude Monet (1840-1926) responded to Gérôme's traditionalism by a change of focus. He chose for his subjects nature at close hand and life in the modern metropolis. His urban paintings were immortalized by his sweeping vista of the Boulevard des Capucines, painted in late 1873. Monet's observation point for this truly-impressionistic work was the window of Nadar's studio where the first Impressionist exhibition was to be held a few months later.
One of the reasons for the rancorous rivalry
between academic painters like Gérôme and Monet’s Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers, etc., was the legacy of actual warfare. The artistic events of 1874 occurred while the debris of the
Franco-Prussian War and the radical uprising known as the Paris Commune was
still being cleared from battlefields and barricades.
In 1870-71, France suffered shattering,
unexpected defeat at the hands of Prussia/Germany. The experience of the
Commune was, in many ways, even worse. Deep fissures had been revealed in French
society. After the brutal execution of the archbishop of Paris, held hostage by the
Communards, and the savage reprisals of the French army, these divisions could
no longer be concealed.
Nor do the curators of the National Gallery exhibit attempt to gloss over the effects of the 1870-71 disaster. A powerful painting of French war casualties entitled Dead in Line is presented not far from L'Éminence Grise and Impression, Sunrise. This work, by an artist named Auguste Lancon, has the searing effect of battlefield photos from the American Civil War.
The detail of the corpse of a French soldier in the foreground of Lancon's painting (below) reminds us of the death of Frederic Bazille in one of the final battles of the 1870-1871 war. A friend of Monet and Renoir and a fellow-painter, Bazille had been the first to propose a joint exhibition of the type eventually presented in April 1874.
In response to the horrors of the “terrible year”, traditionalists like Gérôme emphasized the need for depicting episodes from France's glorious past. Like the trumpet call of the medieval knight, Roland, heroic art works would summon Frenchmen to defend la patrie.
These remarks on the opposing ideals of Gérôme and his supporters (he was the son-in-law of the major art dealer, Goupil) and those of Monet and the Anonymous Society need some clarification.
Disagreement there certainly was but the French art world was not divided into rigid, warring camps. Some of the works of art on view in the 1874 Salon shared artistic affinities with the paintings displayed on the walls of Nadar's ex-studio.
In short, The Fields in June has all the hallmarks which we now ascribe to signature Impressionist landscapes by Monet, Sisley and Pissarro. Yet, Daubigny's vast painting was accepted for the 1874 Salon. Was exception made for him because he was a close friend of Corot, now a revered figure in France, or by virtue of his own age and long years of devotion to art?
There were so many exceptions and inconsistent decisions related to acceptance or rejection by the annual Salon committees that it is a good question if there were actual standards by which works of art were judged.
Whatever the criterion for Salon decision-making in 1874, it is perplexing to consider Manet's unconventional (dare we say impressionistic) The Railroad (1873). This startling work, certainly to 1870's sensibilities, was accepted for display in the 1874 Salon.
Manet submitted another painting to the1874 Salon. Masked Ball at the Opera conformed much more closely to the customary standards of pictorial composition. Yet, it was denied inclusion in the 1874 Salon.
The same fate befell Manet's pupil, Eva Gonzalez. The 1874 Salon accepted a clearly inferior work, The Pink Morning Gown, while rejecting the vastly superior, opera-themed A Box at the Theatre des Italiens.
Gonzalez might have considered offering this "refused" masterpiece for display in the exhibition at Nadar's old studio. But Manet, who had advised Morisot not to join forces with Monet, Renoir and Degas, likely urged Gonzalez to refrain from doing so. If so, Gonzalez listened to Manet's advice, unlike Morisot who - fortunately - did not.
Of course, Manet could have displayed Masked Ball at the Opera with Monet, Degas and his other friends at Nadar's studio, while exhibiting The Railroad at the Salon. Monet and Degas were anxious for Manet's participation. There was no "either/or" stipulation in this first Impressionist public display, as there was in the later exhibitions. But Manet kept his sights on the annual Paris Salons and would never exhibit with the Impressionists.
Giuseppe De Nittis, the Italian-born landscape painter befriended by Degas, did take advantage of the ability to show works at both venues. The Salon exhibited his brilliant study in color-contrasts, In the Wheat Field, while rejecting another fine work, Avenue du Bois de Boulogne (1873). Five other paintings by De Nittis went on view at the Société anonyme show.
Exhibiting with the soon-to-be Impressionists proved to be a mixed blessing for De Nittis. He felt that his paintings had been poorly hung, evidence of resentment by Monet and Renoir at allowing foreign artists into the ranks of the Société anonyme. De Nittis remained a close friend of Degas but did not participate in the later Impressionist exhibitions.
If, as noted above, it is hard to understand the acceptance/rejection standards of the Salon, no such problems existed for admission to the Société anonyme (apart from the prejudicial attitude of Monet and Renoir). The cash-strapped members of this "co-op" welcomed recruits, including print makers who traditionally had been viewed as artisans rather than artists.
Felix Bracquemond (1833-1914), who played a key role in the revival of etching in France, joined the group, displaying an ensemble of etched prints based on Old Master favorites and an intriguing drypoint print of J.M.W. Turner's now-iconic painting Rain, Steam and Speed.
Generally, the Société anonyme members introduced recent works of art at the exhibition, created within a year or two of the April 15th opening day. Most of the group we now consider "Impressionists" were making major strides in the "New Painting" during the months before the debut of the exhibition.The combined efforts of the National Gallery and the Musee d’Orsay have succeeded in presenting an array of early Impressionist masterpieces which we are unlikely to see again for some time to come.
Of particular note, visitors to the National Gallery will be able to study the transformative moment when Paul Cezanne "discovered" landscape painting. This occurred during the joint painting expeditions of Camille Pissarro and Cezanne to the French countryside around Pontoise and Auver. The Paris 1874 exhibit devotes major attention to the landscapes which this unlikely pair created. As these were of such seminal importance in Cezanne's maturation as an artist, I plan a follow-up essay in Art Eyewitness.
It can scarcely be wondered why visitors to the Société anonyme exhibit were shocked upon seeing Monet's Impression, Sunrise or Cezanne's The House of the Hanged Man. Never had so many "en plein air" landscapes, works painted with "broken" brush stokes or portraits influenced by Japanese-style picture cropping appeared together en masse.
Monet, however, used the exhibition to display a huge painting created in the realist style of his early career. The story of how this "dated" masterpiece came to be included needs to be briefly recounted.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Claude Monet’s The Luncheon, 1868
In 1868, Monet, enjoying a very brief respite from financial woes, painted an endearing portrait of his mistress, later first wife, Camille Doncieux and their son, Jean. An enigmatic, black-clad guest (also posed by Camille) is about to join them for lunch. Monet painted this scene of domestic harmony on a heroic scale (91 1/8 x 59 5/8 inches) usually reserved for a Napoleonic hussar or a captain of industry. Any hopes that this depiction of a secularized "madonna and child" would find favor - and a buyer - were dashed when the 1870 Salon rejected it.
Monet dusted The Luncheon off and exhibited it at the Société anonyme exposition. He had to wait until 1910 for the painting of his long-dead first wife to sell, when the Stadel Museum purchased it from Monet's dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel.
Today, on loan from the Stadel, The Luncheon towers over the Impressionist and 1874 Salon paintings sharing gallery space with this once-spurned masterpiece. Its presence in Paris 1874 reminds us of the revolutionary change in style which Monet made between 1870 and 1874.
Yes, a revolution had occurred, the artistic upheaval which we now call Impressionism. Not many people noticed in 1874.
Only 3,500 attended this "First Impressionist Exposition" as opposed to nearly 500,000 patrons at the 1874 Salon. Sales were few and the reviews were mixed. The negative, derisory comments of the art critics were the ones that most people recalled.
The remarks of Ernest Chesneau, writing in the Paris-Journal, were the words that deserved to be remembered. Focusing on Monet's Boulevard des Capucines, Chesneau took note of the lack of finish of early Impressionism, "the art of the fragment." He also caught sight of its future promise.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Monet’s Boulevard des Capucines
Chesneau wrote: "At a distance,, one hails a masterpiece in the stream of life ... But come closer and it all vanishes. There remains only an indecipherable chaos of palette scrapings. Obviously, this is not the last word in art, nor even of this art."
Chesneau concluded his remarks with a judicious assessment, composed in equal measures of practical insight and prophetic foresight.
"It s necessary to go and transform this sketch into a finished work. But what a bugle call for those who listen carefully, how it resounds into the future."
***
Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved
Original photography, copyright of Ed Voves
Introductory Image:
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Gallery view of Paris
1874: the Impressionist Moment, showing Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise.
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Paris
1874: the Impressionist Moment exhibition at the National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Gallery view of Paris
1874: the Impressionist Moment, showing Jean-Léon
Gérôme’s L'Éminence Grise, and Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise.
Jean-Léon Gérôme
(French, 1824-1904) L'Éminence Grise, 1873. Oil on
canvas overall: 68.6 x 101 cm (27 x 39 3/4 in.) framed: 111.1 x 142.9 x 12.1 cm
(43 3/4 x 56 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Bequest of Susan
Cornelia Warren, 1903 Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926) Impression, Sunrise, 1872. Oil on canvas framed: 75 x 91 x 10 cm (29 1/2 x 35 13/16 x 3 15/16 in.) original canvas: 50 x 65 cm (19 11/16 x 25 9/16 in.) Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, gift of Eugène and Victorine Donop de Monchy, 1940. Inv. 4014 Photo: © Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris / Studio Christian Baraja SLB
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Berthe Morisot’s The
Cradle, 1872. Oil on canvas framed: 80 x 71 cm (31 1/2 x 27
15/16 in.) unframed: 56 x 46.5 cm (22 1/16 x 18 5/16 in.) Musée d’Orsay, Paris,
purchased 1930.
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Gallery view of Paris
1874: the Impressionist Moment, showing Jean-Léon
Gérôme’s L'Éminence Grise, and Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Claude Monet’s Boulevard des Capucines,1873–1874. Oil on canvas framed: 110.2 x 92 x 10.2 cm (43 3/8 x 36 1/4 x 4 in.) unframed: 80.3 x 60.3 cm (31 5/8 x 23 3/4 in.) The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Auguste Lancon’s Dead in
Line, 1873.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Charles Francois Daubigny’s The Fields in June, 1874. Oil on canvas: 54 x 86 inches. Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Ithica NY.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024 ) Detail of Camille Cabaillot-Lassalle’s The Salon of 1874, 1874. Oil on canvas: 100 x 81.5 cm (39 3/8 x 32 1/16 in.) Musee d’Orsay, Paris, gift of Galerie Ary Jan and Segoura Fine Art, 2023
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Édouard Manet’s The Railway, 1873. Oil on canvas: 93.3 x 111.5 cm (36 3/4 x 43 7/8
in.) framed: 113 x 132.7 x 5.4 cm (44 1/2 x 52 1/4 x 2 1/8 in.) National
Gallery of Art, Gift of Horace Havemeyer in memory of his mother, Louisine W.
Havemeyer
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Eva Gonzalez’ A Box at the Theatre des Italiens, c.1874. Oil on canvas 38 1/2 x 51 1/8 inches. Musee d’Orsay, Paris.
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Giuseppe De Nittis’ In the Wheat Field, 1873. Oil on panel 13 x
9 7/8 in. Private collection.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Felix Bracquemond's The Locomotive (After J.M.W. Turner), 1873. Etching and drypoint, 2nd state of 2: Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. #1990.1119
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Gallery view of Paris
1874: the Impressionist Moment, showing landscapes
painted by Camille Pissarro and Paul Cezanne during the 1870’s.
Paul Cézanne (French,1839 -1906) The House of the
Hanged Man, Auvers-sur-Oise, c.1873. Oil on canvas:: 55.5 x 66.3 cm (21 7/8 x
26 1/8 in.) Musée d’Orsay, Paris, bequest of Count Isaac de Camondo, 1911. Photo: © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand
Palais / Patrice Schmidt
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Claude Monet’s The Luncheon, 1868. Oil on canvas: 231.5 x 151 cm. Stadel Museum, Frankfurt am Main.
Ed Voves, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Paris 1874: the Impressionist Moment, showing Claude Monet’s The Luncheon, 1868.
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Gallery view of Paris
1874: the Impressionist Moment, showing Claude Monet’s Boulevard des Capucines,
1873.
Ed Voves,
Photo (2024) Detail of Claude Monet’s
Boulevard des Capucines, 1873.
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