In 1870 the French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel fled from Paris to London, to escape the chaos and carnage of the Franco-Prussian War. In London he met two fellow refugees, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro.
It was the start of an unlikely partnership which opened the door to modern art.
Durand-Ruel in his gallery around 1910 (Archives Durand-Ruel)
Durand-Ruel was a conservative, a monarchist and a devout Catholic, but he fell in love with Monet and Pissarro’s radical approach to painting. He adored their love of light, their emphasis on atmosphere and emotion.
He started buying up their work, and the work of their contemporaries. Over the next 50 years he bought over 1000 Monets, around 800 Pissarros, about 1500 Renoirs, and hundreds of works by Degas, Sisley and Manet. He mounted exhibitions in Paris, London and America.
Thanks to Durand-Ruel, these ‘Impressionists’ (as myopic art critics called them, disparagingly) were able to make a living. As Monet said, ‘without him, we wouldn’t have survived.’
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