Michael Prodger on Art

First impressions

LONG BEFORE THE IMPRESSIONISTS became the Impressionists they had other names. The key members, including Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Degas and Sisley, used to meet at the Café Guerbois near Manet’s studio in Batignolles, north-west Paris, and became known as the “Batignolles Group”. In 1873, they formalised this loose faction as the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers. Zola, a boyhood friend of Cézanne, suggested they call themselves “the Actualists”. Degas thought they should be called “La Capucine” after the Boulevard des Capucines where their first show was held. But when a hostile critic called them “the Impressionists” as a slight they adopted that name instead — or it adopted them. THE EXHIBITION WAS SEEN BY 100 PEOPLE A DAY — AS OPPOSED TO THE SALON’S 10,000 DAILY…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2024

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