Le roman vrai de l’impressionnisme, 30 journées qui ont changé l’art

We all knew the Roman vrai de la Ve République (The real story of the Vth Republic) by Gilbert Guilleminault. Here we have the one on Impressionism. The idea is rather good, consisting in emerging oneself in the daily life of the movement rather than produce yet another version of its history. A few key events are placed in the front of the stage and then dissected. Some are very awaited, such as the various exhibitions organized by the group, from the first one in 1874, to the sixth in 1881, in which Degas presented his scandalous Dancer at 14 . There are other lesser-known, like the obscure Impressionist auction on 24 March 1875 at Drouot, a real flop that ended in a pitched battle but saw the birth of the vocation of a great collector, Victor Chocquet . There was also the crash of gallery owner Durand-Ruel, a collateral victim to that of the Union générale bank on 1 February 1882 – he got over it! For those who are discouraged by the massive and intimidating aspect of a movement that was once subversive and today has been over transfixed it is a good idea to approach the story by a roundabout way.

•Le roman vrai de l’impressionnisme, 30 journées qui ont changé l’art (The real novel of Impressionism, 30 days that changed art), by Thomas Schlesser and Bertrand Tillier, Beaux Arts éditions, 2010, 208 p., 23 €.