1874, la naissance de l’impressionnisme

April 15, 1874, 8:00pm. On Boulevard des Capucines, in the studio of the famous photographer Nadar, about thirty young painters including Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Morisot, Degas, and Cézanne are preparing to present over 150 of their works to the public. This collective of rebel artists, in an era bubbling with modernity, inaugurates an independent exhibition: Impressionism is born. For the first time, this docufiction recounts the years leading up to this exhibition and that enabled the birth of this major pictorial movement in art history.

In presence of the directors Julien Johan and Hugues Nancy on March 15, 2024 at the Cinéma du Musée in Montréal

Word of direction

In 1863, Monet is 23 years old. Renoir is 22, like Bazille and Morisot. Sisley and Cézanne are 24, Degas 28, and Pissarro, the oldest, is only 32…

Due to the absence of iconography concerning these painters, the public often suffers from a kind of tropism. We only know Monet or Pissarro from photos depicting them as old sages with long beards; we always speak of them as masters and therefore visualize these painters as grandparents, at the peak of their art, after 50 years of experience…

Yet the period covered by our film is that of their early adult years: the tumultuous years, the strength of youth, the carefreeness, the faith in their ability to change the world. One must imagine a tireless Monet wandering the paths of the Fontainebleau forest or the beaches of Normandy to find the most beautiful tree or the most beautiful view to paint. One must envision a Renoir and a Sisley, climbing the hills overlooking the Seine valley as quickly as possible not to miss the perfect ray of sunshine, weighed down by easels, canvases, and dozens of tubes of paint…

One must also feel in these young painting enthusiasts the same irritating yet salutary impatience towards the old guard, towards the academies, and towards the ​“good taste” they find aristocratic. They know that these styles of painting are outdated. They feel it deep within themselves. Monet, Morisot, Degas, Sisley, Renoir, Cézanne, and Pissarro are rebels. And we want to film them as such.

- Julien Johan