In 19th-century Paris, a group of artists made the brazen move to stand up to the establishment. Inspired by Édouard Manet, young artists including Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Édgar Degas and Paul Cézanne, set out to make art on their own terms. Spurning the Académie and foregoing the official Salon, these artists paved the way for modern art.
At a time when the average working man made between 1,500 to 2,000 francs a year and an artist favored by the official Salon could sell his a single painting for even more, the Impressionists struggled to get even a few hundred francs for their work. Many of these artists lived on the verge of poverty, surviving only on handouts from patrons and friends. Though they struggled in obscurity for decades, those who survived through the turn of the century were vindicated with international success.
This book will take you into the lives of the core Impressionists and the artists who followed them. Not only will you discover the dramatic true stories of their struggles and triumphs, this book will take you to the real-life places where they lived and worked in Paris and beyond.
See the world through the artists’ eyes. Get inspired.