DMA Celebrates 150 Years of Impressionism with Radical Reintroduction to the Movement

In 1874, a group of French artists decided to rebel against the rigid rules of the Parisian Academy of Fine Arts and stage an independent show where they could freely exhibit their work. After being rejected several times by the official Salon, which they depended on to connect them to possible patrons and commissions, these artists formed the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc., and staged what would later become known as the First Impressionist Exhibition.

Celebrating 150 years since the momentous event that would mark the birth of modern art, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) revisits the impressionist masterpieces and their narratives in an ongoing exhibition titled The Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse. Showcasing around ninety works drawn mainly from the DMA’s collection, the show focuses on works produced between 1870 and 1925 to highlight the nature of Impressionism at its most rebellious, illustrious, and historic.

Opposing The Salon

Established in 17th-century France, the Salon was initially formed as a platform for members of the Royal Academy to showcase their work publicly. In the 19th century, the Salon extended its field of activity by allowing non-members to participate, transforming into a prestigious institution that validated the artists and affected the public reception of their work. However, a jury from the Academy presided over which artworks and artists would enter the Salon, and over time, their rules and tastes became ever more rigid.

Reacting to rejection with poise and entrepreneurship, the group of artists that would later be known as Impressionists joined forces in 1884, initiating a sequence of eight independent exhibitions that not only marked the first step toward modern art but also ushered the era of the art market and the independent, private sectors within the art ecosystem. The DMA show highlights this crucial turnover in art history as Dr. Nicole Myers, the museum’s Chief Curatorial and Research Officer, pointed out:

Breaking with tradition in both how and what they painted, as well as how they showed their work, the Impressionists redefined what constituted cutting-edge contemporary art at great personal and financial risk.

The Impressionist Revolution

The First Impressionist exhibition serves as a point of departure for the show The Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse, charting four decades of the movement and its subsequent impact on generations of artists. Drawing primarily from the DMA’s collections, the show weaves a narrative of the movement and its advances regarding technique, methods, and subjects through the masterpieces of key figures such as Mary Cassatt, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Matisse, and Piet Mondrian.

The story unfolds through six thematic sections, including Rebels with a Cause, detailing the beginnings of Impressionism; Making It Modern, focusing on early subjects of modern life; Field Notes, exploring the painters’ radical innovations in technique and material; Weird Science, centering on Pointillism; Side Effects, showcasing the younger generation’s position; and Ever After, tracing the movement’s impact on other 20th-century movements.

Impressionism at DMA

The exhibition The Impressionist Revolution from Monet to Matisse will be on view at the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas, until November 3rd, 2024.