The triumph of Impressionism: the 1880s

In a typical Impressionist landscape, the ferment of colour, the pulsation of light and an intensely active paint surface are prized in their own right – however, this was not appreciated by the majority of viewers.
'Everything that [Monet] does should be hung at a certain height or a barrier should prevent one from getting too close', wrote the critic Charles Bigot.
'From a few paces away everything he tries to produce disappears: we see no more than a formless ensemble – a series of crude blotches of unpleasant blues, pinks and ochres.'

Eventually a few artists succumbed to their critics, including Renoir: 'Around 1883 there was a sort of break in my work. I had reached the end of Impressionism and I reached the conclusion that I did not know how to paint or draw', he confessed.

The works in this section by Sisley, Renoir and Monet from the 1880s, however, demonstrate a high point in their confidence and accomplishment in the communal style they had developed. But the Impressionists' unity proved to be short-lived. Monet and Sisley remained unwavering in their direction, but in the early 1880s Pissarro turned to figure painting. Degas' influence over the Impressionist exhibitions became divisive, and Monet, Renoir and Sisley did not participate in the exhibitions of 1879, 1880 and 1881.

Source: Maloon, Terence. Monet and the Impressionists exhibition brochure.
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2008

Works in this section

Rough weather at Etretat  1883, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Victoria: Felton bequest

Fisherman's cottage on the cliffs at Varengeville  1882, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: bequest of Anna Perkins Rogers

Cap Martin, near Menton  1884, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection

Cap d'Antibes, mistral  1888, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: bequest of Dr Arthur Tracy Cabot

The fort of Antibes  1888, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: anonymous gift

The Seine at Chatou  1881, Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: gift of Arthur Brewster Emmons

La Croix-Blanche at Saint-Mammès  1884, Alfred Sisley.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection

Vétheuil  1878, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Victoria; Felton bequest 1937

Flower beds at Vétheuil 1881, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; John Pickering Lyman Collection, gift of Miss Theodora Lyman

Meadow with haystacks near Giverny  1885, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; bequest of Dr Arthur Tracy Cabot

Meadow at Giverny  1886, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Juliana Cheney Edwards Collection

Poplars at Giverny  1887, Claude Monet.
Oil on canvas. Private collection; courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

In the exhibition

< Early Impressionism
> Impressionism after 1900