Sleepy History - Impressionist Art

Episode Date: July 16, 2026

✨Sleepy History is written and narrated by humans. ✨ Narrated By: Jessika Gossl Written By: Angela Wood In tonight's episode, discover how the Impressionist movement began in 19th century Paris, and how painters such as Monet and Renoir revolutionised the art world. Includes mentions of: Art History #History #Sleep #impressionist #art #creativity #artist #painting About Sleepy History Explore history's most intriguing stories, people, places, events, and mysteries, delivered in a supremely calming atmosphere. If you struggle to fall asleep and you have a curious mind, Sleepy History is the perfect bedtime companion. Our stories will gently grasp your attention, pulling your mind away from any racing thoughts, making room for the soothing music and calming narration to guide you into a peaceful sleep. Want to enjoy Sleepy History ad-free? Start your 7-day free trial of Sleepy History Premium: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sleepyhistory.supercast.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Have feedback or an episode request? Let us know at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠slumberstudios.com/contact⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sleepy History is a production of Slumber Studios. To learn more, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.slumberstudios.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Before the next track starts, Have you ever wondered, who are the people in my old family photos? Or what brought them to Canada? With Ancestry, you can start finding answers. Start with a name and we'll guide you from there. For just 499, try our new 30-day Beginners Pass

and uncover generations of family stories. No experience necessary. You've got questions? We've got Ancestors. Offer ends July 22nd, 2026. Visit Ancestry.ca slash beginners for details. Terms apply. When Impressionist art first emerged on the scene in the mid to late 19th century,

it completely disrupted the art world. The bright and pure unmixed colours, spontaneous brushstrokes, and emphasis on the changing qualities of light were a far cry from the polished academic style painting at the time. But who were the founders of this radical breakaway art movement? How did it begin? And why did the artists encounter so much opposition? In this episode, we'll discover the answers to these questions and more. So just relax and let your mind drift as we explored the sleepy history of Impressionist Art.

It was the early 1870s in Paris, France, and a small group of painters living in the city. had begun working on a new and innovative style of art. Paris at the time was in the midst of great upheaval and political ferment. For the artists, painting was a means of escape from the chaos swirling around them. Their style of work was completely different from the academic paintings of old. There were no classical nudes and no historical or religious scenes to be found anywhere on the canvas. Instead, the brushstrokes were loose and delicate. They used bright colors and focused on real-life natural settings,

often painting outdoors to capture the ever-changing light at different times of the day. Most of the group had tried and failed to get their new works approved by the Academy de Boza. This would allow their paintings to be exhibited in the famous Paris Salon. a move that would most certainly elevate any artist's career. However, their works did not fit the tried and tested formula, and the judges disapproved of the new style of painting. The artists soon realized that they would have to find other ways to showcase their work to try to make a living from it.

They began to organize an independent movement, one that would challenge the traditional art world. The group set the wheels in motion, and what happened next shaped the future of art forever. But first, we need to go back to the 1840s, when the young Claude Monet lived in Paris with his family. From an early age, he had shown that he had a gift for art. He would often draw caricatures in charcoal and sell them for a few francs on the street. During his teenage years, his family left the city, heading to the coast to start a new life. They settled in the port town of La Ava, on the coast of Normandy.

Monet continued to draw, and while there, he met another artist named Ujambouda. Buda saw that Monet had raw talent. He took him under his wing, encouraging Monet to leave the charcoal drawings behind and focus on landscape. painting. He taught Monet the beauty of painting outdoors on plenair. According to Budin, everything that is painted directly and on the spot always has strength. A power and a vivacity of touch one cannot recover in the studio. Three strokes of the brush in front of nature are worth more than two days of work at the easel in the studio. Even though the family had moved to the coast, Monet sometimes returned to the capital city to visit the Louvre Art Gallery. There, he often saw

painters copying the works of the old masters, something that they had been doing for years. With Buddha's words in his mind, he would instead capture what he could see outside, real life in real time. Monet went on to study art in Paris, at the Academy Suisse, an informal art school, and then, in 1862, at the studio of an artist named Charler-Glaire. Monet quickly became disillusioned

with the way that art was being taught. However, it was during these classes that he met Alfred Sissly, Pierre-Augénois-Ren-Wroix-Ren-Was, and Frederique Bazier. Together, the group began to explore new approaches to painting, taking their easels outside to different locations. They used the effects of light to capture fleeting moments on canvas. Their swift brushstrokes and use of bright, broken colors soon became synonymous with their style of work. The artists were fortunate, for in previous decades, it would have been impossible for them to paint outdoors. Traditionally, oil paint had

been stored in pig's bladders which were cumbersome to transport. However, since the 1840s, paint had been transferred into metal tubes, making it more convenient for painters to travel and create their art anywhere. The group often made their way to the edges of farmland and to rivers, lakes and gardens, setting up their easels anywhere there was free space. Some preferred to paint by the harbors and others ventured to the beaches of Normandy. Their ultimate goal was to capture urban, coastal,

and rural life on canvas as it was happening. During the 1860s, many of the group had managed to get traditional portrait works accepted to the Academy de Boza. Some of their pieces had also been exhibited in the famous Paris Salon. But when submitting their new style of painting, they were faced with constant rejection. The judges at the Academy were known for being conservative. They wanted photographic realism, something that didn't fit with the group's loose style of oil painting.

By now, lots of artists were embracing the new genre of art. art, but one by one, the Academy refused to show their works in the salon. Although some painters still hoped to win recognition at the official salon, others decided to take matters into their own hands. In 1874, a group of artists started a movement called the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers. The purpose was to distance themselves and the genre from the Academy de Boza and have complete autonomy over their works. They didn't want to have any affiliations with any political party. Members of the society included Monet, Renoir, Morizzo, Pizarro and Degar.

They invited people to subscribe to company shares for five francs a month. Now aware that they were not. going to get anywhere with the academy, they had to make their own success in the art world. Monet was friends with a man known as Nadar, a photographer. He happened to have a third-floor studio with floor-to-ceiling windows on the Rue du Capucine. It was one of the grand boulevards in Paris, shaded by trees, and lined with elegant housemen buildings. The small studio space was deemed perfect for the society's first independent exhibition. Organizing the exhibition was no easy feat. The group deliberated over where and how each painting was to be displayed. At the salon,

paintings that were generally disliked were put near the ceiling or skied. Renoir settled the dispute, suggesting that paintings should be classified by size. Then, lots would be drawn to detainees to determine where they would be displayed. The first exhibition of the Anonymous Society of Painters opened on a beautiful April day in 1874. It featured 165 works by at least 30 artists. The exhibition ran for a month and more than 3,500 people attended the showing, which strategically opened two weeks before the annual Paris Salon. At the first exhibition, Renoir featured his theatre box and the dancer.

Pissarro showed chestnut trees at Oni, while Cézanne displayed a modern Olympia. Alfred Sizzley sold five landscapes and was the most successful artist, earning 1,000 francs. Renoir and Monet made less than 200 francs each, and Ed Gar-Degar and Berta Morizo didn't sell anything at all. Monet exhibited Impression Sunrise, which he painted in his hometown of La Ava. The painting was a muted color palette of the emerging dawn, an intriguing composition of orange and yellow hues, casting light from the sky onto the rippling blue sea and fishing boats of the industrial port. The brushstrokes were informal and natural. But unfortunately, the painting was not well received by one art critic, Louis Lera.

He wrote, wallpaper in its early stages is much more finished than that. the critic likened the painting to an impression or crude rudimentary sketch, an insult to Monet's work. But instead of seeing this term as offensive, the group later decided to use it to their advantage. They began to collectively call themselves the Impressionists. If that was how people wanted to describe their paintings, then that was what they would become. Although the shows were well attended, it soon became obvious that many had only visited to mock the new style of art on display. Reviews were far from favourable.

Here are the words of one reporter. There is an exhibition of the intransigence in the Boulevard de Capucine, or rather, you might say, of the lunatics. If you would like to be amused and have a moment to spare, don't miss it. Cézanne's work was also singled out. A modern Olympia was described as being created by a sort of madman, painting in a state of delirium tremens. Edou Manet, who had refused to join the society, preferring to stick with the academy, was also having issues.

Two of the three works he had submitted for consideration to the salon had been rejected, and the third had been pam. by critics. The Impressionists did, however, have a few supporters, one of whom was the art dealer Paul Duran-Ruelle. He had been purchasing works from them and contributing to the society's funds. But now he was having financial issues and he suspended his payments to the group. The society had already been struggling and this was a huge blow to their funding. In December 1874, just nine months after their first exhibition, the Impressionists decided to liquidate the anonymous society of painters. However, it didn't stop them from painting. Monet and Pissero

were drawn to paint scenes occurring in the newly constructed railway stations of Paris. Monet and Renoir focused on leisure scenes, painting the upper and middle classes in lush gardens by lakes or on boats. The female impressionists were often not afforded the perks of their male peers. Upper-class women were unable to access certain public spaces. They couldn't indulge in life drawing or go out in public without a chaperone. Subsequently, the female impressionists were confined to painting domestic scenes in and around the home. The women's paintings were also critiqued differently.

Berta Morizo's works were labeled as femininely charming by male art critics. They would use words like efflore, meaning to brush against and touch lightly to describe her art. She became frustrated and once said, I don't think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal. And that's all I would have asked for, for I know I am worth as much as they. In the years that followed, the Impressionists continued to host their own exhibitions, a total of eight between 1874 and 1886. The second exhibition opened in 1876, two years after the first.

This time, it featured around 20 artists, but included more than 250 works in total. One work that was exhibited was Gustav Kau-Kaibodz. thought-provoking canvas, the floor scrapers. It depicted three men planing the floor of a Paris apartment. The painting was distinctive for its realism and its perspective of the urban environment. It was traditional in its composition, but the Academy had rejected it a year earlier, calling it vulgar. After this insult, Kaibot had decided to join the Impressionists, a move that would benefit their cause greatly. The artist had inherited significant wealth, and this allowed him to purchase paintings from the other Impressionists, many of whom were living in poverty. He paid for Monet's

studio and purchased works from him, Renoir and Pissarro. Kaibot also headed up the next exhibition, held in 1877, an event that saw the emergence of some of Cézanne's fine landscape paintings, Monet included his paintings of San Lazard train station, and Renoir debuted his La Balle du Moulin de la Gallette. This would go on to become one of his most celebrated pieces. Renoir often used to frequent the dance halls, garden parties, and theatres of Paris, and he became fascinated by the characters he would meet there. He often captured the figures on canvas with this vivid color palette, fluid brushstrokes and dappled refractions of light.

He once said, to my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. Yes, pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is, without creating still more of them. In the 1879 exhibition, the American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt participated for the first time. Césanne, Renoir, Morizo, and Sisley didn't display any new works. Only 16 artists exhibited, but the event was gaining traction this year bringing in over 15,000 visitors. Although this was a positive step, many Europeans were still skeptical about impressionism. Paul Du Ra Ruel, the art dealer and early supporter of the group, decided to share.

nearly 300 of their works to America to feature in an 1886 exhibition. The Americans were known to be more open-minded to different art styles, and their assessment of the Impressionist's work was overwhelmingly positive. Du Ra Ruel capitalized on the growing popularity, later opening a gallery on Fifth Avenue to add further exclusivity to the paintings. He said, the American public does not laugh, it buys. And thanks to him, after just two exhibitions in America

and seeing the popularity of the works rise, the French began to follow suit. The final Impressionist exhibition in Paris took place in 1886, and it was unlike the others that came before. Neo-impressionism was emerging, courtesy of artists like Paul Siniac, and Georges Zura. This essentially marked the beginning of the post-impressionist era. Post-Impressionist art was similar to its predecessor, yet it focused more on personal expression.

The artists tended to use bolder colors and thicker brushstrokes to convey their subjects. Paul Césard transitioned away from Impressionism into the new genre, and he was joined by the artist Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. The Impressionists, however, were not to be forgotten. They were about to be given an unexpected gift. In 1894, the artist Gustave Caibot passed away. He had left specific instructions for all of his works to be left to the French state. The government still had little interest in non-academically trained artists.

However, his bequest ensured that many of the works that he had painted and purchased from other Impressionist artists were displayed in public. It was a selfless final gesture that helped to preserve Impressionist artworks for future generations. Although a new genre was upcoming, the early Impressionists still continued to paint in their own inimitable style. In 1897, Monet began some of his best works, the Water Lily series. They were a harmonious color of palette of greens, blues and purples, inspired by the gardens of his beloved home in Givani. He continued working on these pieces, among others, until his death, and created around 250 oil paintings during this time. When talking about his work in Impressionism, Monet said,

People must first of all learn to look at nature, and only then may they see and understand what we are trying to do. Around 1912, Monet began to develop cataracts, which affected his sight. To view us today, his large-scale canvases provide an immersive experience into the emotions he was feeling during this phase of his life, as the colors he could once see clearly began to change. Monet offered his water lilies paintings to the French state, as a symbol of peace at the end of the First World War.

During the 1920s, the French state built special rooms at the Mouzaille de Laranje, near the River Sen to house eight of the pieces as part of a permanent collection. The exhibition opened in 1997, a few months after Monet's death. With their unique style, the Impressionists had tapped into something ethereal and futuristic. Only recently have their works come to be fully appreciated. All of the Impressionist artworks had a deep connection to real life, to nature, and to the scenes that surround us every single day. The group captured those scenes, turning the seemingly mundane into something beautiful and timeless. The original Anonymous Society of Painters and their supporters changed the way that art was viewed.

and how it could be exhibited. They bucked the trend and turned rejection into triumph. Their courageous decision to step away from the confines of traditional rules and regulations was transformational. It led to an emergence of new art, new galleries, and less traditional art institutions. They included women in their exhibitions at a time when they were suppressed, by society, and they proved to everyone that beauty was in the eye of the beholder. The artist Marie Bracamoire summed up the genre perfectly.

Impressionism has produced not only a new, but a very useful way of looking at things. It is though all at once a window opens and the sun and air enter your house in Torrance. It was, indeed, as if a positive light had shone brightly on the art world, producing something pure and natural. Unfortunately, Impressionist art was way ahead of its time, and in the late 19th century, some people just weren't ready for it. Today, the Impressionist's paintings are on display in all the best galleries. Monet's paintings are some of the most strong. sought after pieces for collectors. In 2019, one of his works from the Haystack series sold for more than 110 million. And in the early 1990s, a version of Renoir's most famous piece,

Bal du Moulin de la Gallette, sold for over 78 million. The two artists were living in poverty in Paris when the movement began, with Monet struggling to support. quarter wife and family. If they had lived 150 years later, they could have been some of the wealthiest men in the world, thanks to their incredible creativity and unwillingness to compromise. Thanks to them and all the other impressionists of the era, we can still gaze upon their beautiful artworks in exhibitions and galleries around the world. By simply stopping to observe their detailed work, we can catch a small glimpse into their loves,

their lives, emotions, and surroundings. And we can admire the way they captured nature and the magnificent, ever-changing light on canvas.