In the history of art, 1855 is usually remembered for the first Universal Exhibition in Paris. But for Gustave Courbet, it was the year he decided to declare war on the French state. While the official jury accepted eleven of his paintings , they rejected his monumental masterpieces, A Burial at Ornans  and The Artist's Studio , most likely due to a lack of space. Courbet’s response was not to sulk, but to secede. He orchestrated a "great burial" of the official art world, transforming...

For centuries, the Paris Salon was a temple. It was the sanctuary of the "Liberal Arts," where painting was displayed to glorify the nation and educate the soul. But in the 19th century, this temple was invaded by a new, vulgar force: the market. By the 1880s, the prestigious exhibition had transformed into what critics horrifiedly called a "bazaar." It was no longer about art for art's sake; it was about art for business's sake . The walls of the Palais de l'Industrie were not just...

The history of Impressionism is often romanticised as a unified front of friends battling the establishment. The reality, however, was also a series of bitter internal disputes. From the very first exhibition in 1874 to the final dissolution of the group, the artists were divided by deep disagreements over their name, their relationship with the official Salon, and what they were trying to achieve. Far from being a monolithic movement, the group was a fragile coalition that eventually...