On April 15, 1874, thirty artists, including Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley, held an exhibition of their works in Paris, at the Boulevard des Capucines, the vacant studio of the photographer Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon). Having been rejected by the artistic establishment’s Salon, these artists chartered a joint stock company, called the Société Anonyme des Artistes, Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs, etc. The members of the Société Anonyme organized an exhibition of their avant garde works in order to reach a wider audience. The first Impressionist exhibition featured innovations, breaking from the Salon’s method of displaying artworks: instead of crowding several rows of paintings, and relegating the works of new artists near the ceiling, far away from patrons’ eye-level (known as “skying”), the Société Anonyme organizers displayed only two rows of paintings on each wall and gave equal placement to new artists’ works.

The first Impressionist exhibition received mostly negative reviews from contemporary critics. During the mid-19th century, the Western European art establishment preferred strictly representational paintings that depicted historical and religious subjects. The Impressionists broke from the tradition of idealizing their subjects, instead depicting the fleeting moments of everyday life. Unlike establishment painters, who typically painted in their studios, the Impressionists painted outdoors, employing quick, broad brushstrokes, that emphasized the various qualities of sunlight. Notable artworks displayed at the exhibition included Degas’ Dance Class, Cezanne’s Modern Olympia, Monet’s Impression, Sunrise, Renoir’s The Loge and Dancer, Morisot’s Hide-and-Seek, and Pissarro’s Hoarfrost, among others.

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