Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Story, photos by Lou Perri

The Philadelphia Museum of Art continues to offer unique exhibits.

Starting June 24th, and continuing to September 13th, , the Philadelphia Museum of Art presents a ground-breaking exhibition examining the early struggles and ultimate triumph of the artists who created the style known as Impressionism and the role that the great Parisian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel played in their success.

Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting includes numerous masterpieces by leading figures of this movement such as Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, and Mary Cassatt. It will reunite for the first time key paintings that were shown in the earliest exhibitions devoted to the work of these artists. Many of these were organized by Durand-Ruel, who was an early champion of the Impressionists and worked tirelessly over the course of nearly a half century to create a robust market for Impressionism in France, Germany, England, and the United States, from the critical moment in the 1870s when the paintings of Manet, Monet, Renoir, and others were greeted with ridicule to the early 20th century when their artistic genius was fully recognized. Philadelphia will be the venue for this exhibition in the United States after its presentation at the National Gallery of Art in London and the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris.

At the preview event, Timothy Rub, The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, noted : “This landmark exhibition brings together a remarkable group of masterpieces from collections throughout the world with the goal of exploring a chapter in the history of art that still captures our imagination. It will tell a story that has yet be told, of an enterprising art dealer who believed in sustained the careers of many artists such as Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro, and helped them to achieve great renown. In the process, Durand-Ruel essentially created the modern art market. Many great Impressionist collections today, including those of the Musée d’Orsay and the National Gallery — our partners in the development of this exhibition — along with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, were formed with works that at one time passed through his hands.”