Paris 1874, inventing Impressionism: our photos from the Musée d'Orsay's major exhibition

The Musée d'Orsay is celebrating a very special anniversary, one that should speak volumes to many art lovers: on April 15, 1874, the first Impressionist exhibition was held in Paris. Rejecting the norms and traditions of their time, Monet, Degas, Pissaro, Renoir, Cézanne, Morisot and many others decided to create their own exhibition, showcasing their innovative artistic movement, Impressionism.

From March 26 to July 14, 2024, 150 years after this groundbreaking event, the Musée d'Orsay looks back on this pivotal moment in art history. The exhibition Paris 1874, Inventing Impressionism brings together 130 works by these great masters to tell the story of this period of evolution and innovation in France.

In the early 1870s, barely recovered from the war with Prussia, France was in the throes of major conflicts: several Communes were held in the country's major cities, and bloody clashes broke out between citizens. Against this backdrop of violence and uncertainty, many artists decided to leave behind the rules of the past, to create a style more suited to this ever-changing world.

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This young generation of creators rejects conservative academicism, and chooses to focus on everyday scenes, modern life as they see it, landscapes, plein-air paintings, light colors and more dreamlike techniques. Emotions, sensations, the present moment: the watchwords of these artists are bound to make a few teeth grind.

For this exhibition, the Musée d'Orsay is spotlighting the great names of the genre, some of the key works of the period, but also artists who have fallen into oblivion today. Pissaro, Cézanne, Monet, Manet, Sisley, Boudin, Morizot... These are the sacred monsters of one of the world's best-known artistic movements, celebrated here. And legendary canvases, such asImpression, soleil levant, Coquelicots and La Gare Saint-Lazare by Claude Monet, La Classe de Danse byEdgar Degas, Chemin de Fer byEdouard Manet,Une Loge aux Italiens byEva Gonzalès, and Bal du Moulin de la Galette and La Balançoire byAuguste Renoir.

On one side, you can admire some of the paintings and sculptures presented at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. Opposite, the museum also shows works exhibited at the same time at the Salon officiel, the artistic event of the Académie des Arts. In this face-to-face encounter, the clash of ancient and modern, tradition and innovation, comes to the fore. We can almost replay the quarrels that pitted the artists of the time against each other, discovering their differences, but also their commonalities.

With this major exhibition, the Musée d'Orsay is sure to appeal to all lovers of Impressionism and art. Not to be missed!

And as an added bonus, a virtual reality experience is also available, based around the exhibition :

An evening with the Impressionists: we tried out the virtual reality experience at the Musée d'Orsay
Un soir avec les impressionnistes - Paris 1874 is the virtual reality experience offered by the Musée d'Orsay from March 26 to August 11, 2024, to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition. Relive this very first exhibition in Nadar's studio, meet legendary artists such as Monet and Renoir, and immerse yourself in 19th-century Paris. We've tried it, we'll tell you! [Read more]