‘Impressionism’: what’s in a name?

Look back through Western art history and you will see a number of different movements. River City’s first major exhibition of 2021, THE IMPRESSIONISTS is about one such movement, named because of its literal meaning – paintings that were an ‘impression’ of what the artist saw.

French artist, Claude Monet while one of many impressionists painters, inadvertently gave the movement its name when he painted ‘Impression Sunrise’ in 1872. The painting is of sunrise at Le Havre, a port city of Normandy in the North of France where Monet and his family relocated. (You can read more Monet in the exhibition catalog).

Later in 1874, Monet gathered with fellow artists including Renoir, Degas and Pissaro to discuss their style of painting. At the time, this group were considered rebels of the Parisian art world because they refused traditional standards deemed proper by Académie des Beaux Arts (Academy of Fine Arts). Because of this, their artworks were not selected by the institute to exhibit in the Salon, an annual state-run art exhibition.

Against all odds, they formed a group of independent artists and exhibited their artwork in the studio of a French photographer called Nadar. The exhibition catalog was made by Renoir’s brother, Edmond who argued with the artists about the names of the paintings, which he found “boring”.  As the story goes, Edmond once asked Monet: “Why do you use such boring titles for your paintings: ‘Entry into the garden’, ‘Exit from the garden’, ‘Sunrise in the garden’?”. Monet shrugged and suggested adding the word “Impression” to the title, which subsequently gave a name to a whole style. 

Their first exhibition was considered scandalous by art critics. The journalist Louis Leroy wrote “Impression—I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it … and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.” However, all publicity, favourable or not is good publicity and the term “impressionism’ stuck, becoming the name of this style of modern art ever since.

THE IMPRESSIONIST exhibition at River City Bangkok features the life and works of 10 rebels of the Parisian art world in the 19th century. Visitors will pass through a number of different media experiences as the story of the artists are told, finally being immersed in the most famous painting of the Impressionist period.
Tickets are available at https://www.zipeventapp.com/e/theimpressionists
The exhibition opens to the public from 8 January 2021 to 18 April 2021 at Museum of Digital Art (MODA Gallery) on the 2^nd floor, River City Bangkok.

Don’t miss joining the photo contest to win prizes that include workshops with Leica Camera Thailand.

Find out more https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1ZTlJNvZnLK7mUpI-q5nr4KLK6yIh4E1W