Talk
For love or Money?
10 Apr 2015
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Charting how one man saved Impressionism from critical disaster, and in the process was able to establish the modern art market.
Impressionism is one of painting's best loved movements, but in its time it was highly controversial. If it weren't for the efforts of the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel – who tirelessly championed the likes of Monet, Pissarro, Degas and Renoir –many of its greatest works would have never gained precedence.
This exhibition at the National Gallery focuses specifically on Durand-Ruel, fierce advocate and loyal friend of the Impressionists. He became the group’s most courageous backer during the 1870s when their work was still being ridiculed or ignored. 'Without him', said Monet, 'we wouldn’t have survived'.
But more than moral or financial support, it was Durand-Ruel's revolutionary business strategies that single-handedly reversed the fate of the Impressionists. As well as stock building, exclusivity and one-man shows of 'his' artists, he transformed his Paris-based business into a global firm by opening branch galleries in London and New York.
The exhibition includes around 70 of the impressionists' greatest masterpieces, all of which were dealt by Durand-Ruel.
Talk
For love or Money?
10 Apr 2015
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Event
Channelling the avant-garde
02 May 2015 – 03 May 2015
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Talk
Writing to the Impressionists
14 May 2015
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Talk
Introduction to 'Inventing Impressionism'
14 May 2015
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Have you been to this event? Share your insights and give it a review below.