The Long Way Around for Impressionism

by Pete Holly

History has a way of turning things around so that what was once viewed as "
"bad"becomes "good" and vice-versa.A "Ghetto" started out hundreds of years ago as
being the best part of town-now as we all know it means the worst or poorest-I don't
know how or why it changed-i just know that it did.The name of "Impressionism" in
art first arose in 1872 when art critic Louis Leroy first saw Monet's painting Impression:
Sunrise" and many other modern impressionistic paintings at an art exibition organized
by followers of Edward Manet called the "Anonymous Society of Painters,Sculptors,,Engravers, Etc."{Manet himself chose not to take part in the exibition} Nearly every art critic who saw the exibition wrote terrible reviews about the artists that
we now think of as being some of the Greatist's artists the Art World has ever known-Monet,
Renoir,Dega's,Cezanne,Sisely,Pissarro and Berthe Morisot.Leroy took Monet's painting title
and turned it against all the young artists who had exibited at the show.He called all the Paintings just Impressions and not properly finished works of art.For him that meant that the
paintings were all terrible and worthless and he wasn't shy in expressing his dislike of this new
and modern style of painting.
Today,the world see's Impressionism in a completly differant light.Impressionism
is the most popular style of art the world over.People love these dazzling,light drivin' paintings
with a passion that is almost like a religion in it's afirmation and appreciation.Impressionistic
paintings or their off-shoots command the highest price's at auction.Selling for millions of dollars
for just one painting."Impressionism" has come along way.

coda:The irony in all this is that in trying to brand the paintings all bad with one term taken
from Monet's "Impression:Sunrise-the critic Leroy inadvertantly gave Impressionism a
respectable name for it's style-one that once it caught on with the public has never let go of.
Now when someone say's impressionism-people stand up and take notice with respect and
admiration.One has to admit Leroy's critic backfired on him for instead of keeping the Impressionists down it eventually became the actual name of these artists style which has
remained the most popular style of art for nearly a century.

Written by Pete Holly-2010-All Rights Reserved