Whether or not they set out to be 'Impressionists'; whether or not they accepted that label, that name provided by the circumstances; whether or not they sought to merge into one movement; whether or not they managed to establish their genius beyond Impressionism itself, for us Cezanne,Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley nevertheless form the first real movement in modern painting, and the words that Zola wrote in 1877 on the occasion of their third group exhibition still offer a perfect definition of its nature, concerns and limits...
IMPRESSIONISM CAN BE UNDERSTOOD AS A TEMPORARY ARTISTS" ASSOCIATION WHOSE MUTUAL AND IMPERATIVE AIM WAS TO OUTSMART THE TYRANNOUS RULES OF THE FRENCH ART WORLD AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, BY EXHIBITING, SELLING AND LIVING FREELY OFF THEIR ARTWORKS. MONET, RENOIR, DEGAS, CEZANNE, PISSARRO, SISLEY ARE FAMOUS NAMES OF ARTISTS WHO WERE FIRST VERY CLOSE AND WHO STUCK TOGETHER BEFORE PROGRESSIVELY PARTING TOWARDS INDIVIDUAL DESTINIES SO RENOWNED THAT EACH ONE OF THEM REMAINS FAMILIAR, IN THE SAME WAY THAT THEIR PAINTINGS SEEM SO CLOSE. IMPRESSIONISM CAN"T ONLY BE REDUCED TO A STRATEGIC MOVEMENT; EVEN THOUGH THESE ARTISTS FOUND THE IMPRESSIONIST LABEL TOO RESTRICTIVE, THEY ALSO THOUGHT IT SYNONYMOUS WITH THEIR WILL OF FREEING THEMSELVES AND WITH THE FREEDOM OF THEIR GAZE. THIS STUNNING ILLUSTRATED STUDY AIMS AT CONTEXTUALIZING IMPRESSIONISM WITHIN THE DYNAMICS OF THE TIMES AS WELL AS RESTORING THE JOURNEY OF EACH ONE OFITS PROTAGONISTS WHILE REVIVING THE VERY OFTEN UNFAILING LINKS BETWEEN THEM: MANET, MONET, BAZlLLE, SISLEY, RENOIR, CAtLLEBOTTE, CEZANNE, PlSSARRO, DEGAS AND MORISOT.