Renoir, Monet, Manet . . . But for the efforts of one man, their paintings may never have seen the light of day. Time and time again in Paris, the works they exhibited were refused by the all-powerful Académie des Arts. At the time of Noble Rot, in 1895, the ‘best painter in the world’ was Jean-Léon Gérôme, who painted classical, religious and classical subjects.
Dismissed, the scorned painters set up their own ‘salon des refusés’ supported by a young man who had the foresight to see their talents: Paul Durand-Ruel.
The son of a Parisian Gallerist, Paul Durand-Ruel grew up in a world where classical art ruled supreme. Aged 24, he saw Delacroix’s ‘living art’ at the 1855 Paris world exhibition. Bowled over, Paul took a gamble and bought works by Renoir, Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Degas and Manet. The world, however, was not ready for them.
“In Durand-Ruel’s gallery, an exhibition of so-called art has just opened–” scoffed le Figaro newspaper, ‘— in which five madmen and a madwoman exhibit their paintings. Madder even is the gallerist who has purchased them.”
A generous patron, Durand-Ruel supported his painters, bought their work, signed exclusive contracts with Corot and Millet, held exhibitions for individual artists, published an art magazine and actively engaged in a lively discourse to further the controversial cause of Impressionism. However, in spite of his best efforts, the genre remained unpopular. “A preliminary drawing for wallpaper is more finished that this seascape,” wrote a critic about Monet’s Sunrise Impressions, the picture that gave Impressionism its name:
In 1874, Durand-Ruel ran out of money. Six years later, he managed to convince a bank to lend him money and gathered more works. In 1882, the bank collapsed. He was ruined. But it was not over. In 1886, he went to New York where he initiated a dialogue with rich clients such as Mary Cassatt’s brother, a dialogue that finally brought results. Impressionism took off, and by the time of his death, in 1905, he had gathered 300 original works in his London gallery. ‘A man with a mission,’ Renoir said.
‘We were lucky that his mission was art.’