Paris 1874 on Off the Wall Friday

One of the First Rooms of the Paris:1874 exhibit

 Okay, show of hands...who here when you think of art history, think immediately of impressionist paintings?  I wouldn't doubt that out of all art movements, impressionism is by far the most known and beloved.  I know, that's where I started my art history journey. It's still one of my favorites.  I think it's partly due to the fact that it's representational (which also makes it approachable) without being too stuffy.  Plus, the colors and the subjects just capture moments in everyday life that let you  live them over and over.  

The Railway, Edouard Monet, 1873

So when the National Gallery in Washington, DC put together an exhibit, Paris, 1874: The Impressionist Moment, we put it on our "must do list".  It exhibits 130 paintings from what is now considered to be first impressionist art show. To my art quilt friends, see if this scenario sounds familiar. Apparently, in 1874, the most successful artists were creating large dramatic paintings of historical and biblical scenes.  The Paris Salon was the annual art show of the time, where half a million people visited.  Of course, it favored this more conventional art style where wealthy patrons would buy art and sponsor artists.  

In comes who we now know as the impressionists.  Artists, most famously Claude Monet, had been experimenting with a looser style of painting where the subject is stylized in a more relaxed way.  Also, the canvases were smaller.  These paintings were all rejected by the Salon's jurors to be in the annual show.  Because of this, 31 artists came together to organize their own show.  In April of 1874, 200 artists (not all impressionists) showed their work.  

The Ballet Rehearsal, Edgar Degas, 1874

Although, it was not a huge commercial success with only 3500 visitors, it really was the birthplace of the impressionist movement.  It's amazing how many world-famous paintings were in the exhibit that year.  Even Monet's Impressionism Sunrise 1872 was featured, and that painting gave the name to the whole movement.   You can read the full story here.  

To say the exhibit was stunning would be an understatement.  To me, it was a bit surreal. So many paintings, I've been admiring for years, were just a finger reach away.  The colors are all so much more vibrant in person. You could see the individual paint strokes and then you would stand back to see the whole composition.  Just stunning.  And overwhelming.  

Impressionism, Sunrise 1872, Claude Monet

The exhibit has been super popular as you can imagine.  Never before had these paintings been brought all together from all over the world.  We got there at 10 am on a Monday morning and there was line a block long at least waiting to get into the gallery.  The docent said it is much, much worse on the weekends. 

The highlight for me was seeing the work of the women artists of the impressionist movement.  Just seeing The Cradle by Berthe Morisot in person was a thrill. Several of her paintings were featured.  Everywhere you look you would see real women of the time painted with - get this - their clothes on. 

The Cradle, Berthe Morisot, 1872

We finished our time at the Gallery, by visiting the Impressionist rooms and a bit of the American section from the early 1900's.  My husband is fan boying over Sargent right now so we hunted all of those down as well.  I've learned from past visits, its better to take the National Gallery in 4 or 5 hour bites.  

The Gallery's Rotunda at Christmas

I know, I know for a quilting blog I've been doing a bunch of art posts lately..but what can I say?  At Winter Solstice on Lake Erie, it's grey days and long nights.  It's a good time for some colorful art.

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