The Impressionist Saga

Does the term "Impressionism" refer to a clearly defined school? Let's examine our certainties point by point.

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Is Impressionism a school? Who were its masters and disciples? Did Impressionism have a style of its own? We would still have to prove that Claude Monet and Edgar Degas were stylistically consistent. A common favourite subject? When one group opts for timeless landscapes and the other for the figures of modern life, generalisations are misleading. How scandalous were they? The movement is said to have been born out of a great scandal, one that was essential to the writing of the genesis of modernism.

 

This talk will dispel some prejudices by looking at Impressionism in the light of its diversity. We will learn to look at the most famous paintings without conceding that their history is settled.