The new Exhibition on Screen Film, the Dawn of Impressionism Paris 1874, screening at the Drill Hall Chepstow on Thursday 20 March 7.30pm, transports the audience back to Paris 150 years ago when a group of rebel artists staged a groundbreaking exhibition and created a whole new movement that changed the world of art forever.
The Impressionists are now the most popular group in art history - millions flock every year to marvel at their masterpieces. But it didn’t begin that way. The first Impressionists, a group of disillusioned Parisian artists “hungry for independence”, broke the mould by holding their own exhibition. It was bold, radical and became legendary. At the time, these artists were ridiculed mercilessly by many critics for their new style, yet these outsiders went on to become the iconic founders of the world’s favourite art movement.
Now, 150 years later, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and the National Gallery of Art in Washington are revisiting this event in a spectacular major exhibition, that brings fresh eyes to this extraordinary tale of passion and rebellion. Who were the maverick personalities that wielded their brushes in such a radical and provocative way What led to that first momentous show 150 years ago
In this film the story is not told by modern experts, but through the words of those who were there, witnessing the dawn of Impressionism – the artists themselves, the press and people of Paris 1874. It’s a step back in time to see it through their eyes – to see the show “that changed everything” The Dawn of Impressionism on the big screen.