The Impulse Towards Impressionism: American Artists in France 1885 to 1913

Interesting online lecture from ARTscapades looking at the American artists who went to France in the late 19th century and worked with the Impressionists.

Timothy J. Standring, author of “From Whistler to Cassatt: American Painters in France” and curator of an exhibition in Richmond and Denver of the same title, talked us through why it was easy for Americans to go and study in France in this period. He outlined the ways of studying and displaying art at the time in Paris and how reviews of the salon shows travelled back to the US creating an educated clientele for the work back at home.

Strandring concentrated on James Whistler, Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent looking at their careers in Paris and how they took on Impressionist techniques. I would have liked a bit more detail on lives in Paris but the talk became more of a guide to the exhibition at this point which was still interesting but more of a description of paintings than a narrative.

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