Exhibiting and Dealing Impressionism

Estefania : Dealing in Temperaments

A determined and ambitious entrepreneur, Paul Durand- Ruel became a pioneer on the international art market, establishing a series of galleries in Paris, London, Brussels and New York and organizing numerous international exhibitions. Completely motivated by the talent of the artists he promoted and confident in his role as the defender of their art, Paul Durand-Ruel was able to secure a legacy for the Impressionists. Even though it took him 30 years, Durand-Ruel held Impressionism’s place in history through continuous promotion across Europe and the United States and ensured its success.

                  In the early 1870s, Durand-Ruel discovered a group of young, not so known artists (later known as the Impressionists) and began to promote their work with absolute faith. Over several decades, thirty to be exact, Durand-Ruel worked tirelessly to build an audience for their innovative and eye-opening style of painting and to create a modern art market. His strategies included acquiring in depth the work of the artists he favored, gaining exclusivity by offering stipends in return for first rights to artists’ most recent work, hosting single-artist exhibitions, and establishing branches in London, Brussels, and New York, which drew him into contact with influential collectors around the world. Durand’s parent had their own art gallery, and so, Durand-Ruel inherited all their painting. He knew what he believed in and made it his priority to become extremely focused. Durand-Ruel focused on three important selling techniques: free access to his galleries and to his apartment, to promote the artists’ work via the press, and to associate the art world with the finance world. He made it known that art and money work together. His financial strategies have been widely recognized as effectively initiating norms of dealer operations still familiar today

Between 1891 and 1922, Paul Durand-Ruel purchased close to 12,000 works of art, including more than 1,000 Monets, approximately 1,500 Renoirs, more than 400 by Degas, about 800 Pissarros, close to 200 Manets and close to 400 Mary Cassatts. Durand- Ruel focused on the role of journalism and historical expertise in securing the cultural and investment value of artworks. When Paul Durand-Ruel was 89 years old he said that: «At last the Impressionist masters triumphed just as the generation of 1830 had. My madness had been wisdom. To think that, had I passed away at sixty, I would have died debt-ridden and bankrupt, surrounded by a wealth of underrated treasures…» He believed in his artists and the power of making the impressionists not only known, but also unforgettable.

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Works Cited:

Johnson, Ken. "Paul Durand-Ruel, the Paris Dealer Who Put Impressionism on the Map." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 July 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

"Paul Durand-Ruel." Durand-Ruel Et Cie. N.p., 24 June 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Lewis, Mary Tompkins. Critical Readings in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: An Anthology. Berkeley: U of California, 2007. Print.

"'Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting' Review." WSJ. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.