WHAT DO THE WORDS ‘IMPRESSION’ and ‘After Impressionism’ conjure up in art? Possibly Impression, Sunrise, 1872 (Musee Marmotan Monet, Paris) by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Mont Sainte-Victoire (Philadelphia Museum of Art) by Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)? Monet’s ‘impressionist’ painting, and Cezanne’s artwork 30 years on, share a period in art history that altered the perception of what ‘art’ is. A period from the 1870s that consolidated Paris as the heart of modern art breaking free from the established tradition. It attracted painters to the city from across Europe, Russia and America. They came to study, to receive professional artistic training and to learn from other artists. A major exhibition, , at the National Gallery, London investigates the diversity of European art from this era in a show of around 100 paintings and key sculptures.
