The Fractured Group: Internal Conflicts and the End of the Impressionist Dream
- Art d'Histoire
- Jan 28
- 4 min read
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 fractured under the weight of its own contradictions.
The Battle for a Name
The first conflict arose before the public even saw the paintings: what should they call themselves? In 1874, to avoid prejudice, they settled on the neutral legal title of Société Anonyme Coopérative. Edgar Degas, fearing they would be seen merely as a "rejected," pushed for the title "La Capucine" (The Nasturtium), naming the group after the boulevard on which their first exhibition was installed: Boulevard des Capucines. He also flirted with the idea of a "Realist Salon."
The public and critic, led by the satirical press, imposed the term "Impressionists" after Monet’s Impression, Sunrise. While some members like Renoir eventually accepted it as a badge of honour—telling passers-by, "You will find here the kind of painting that you don’t like"—others resisted. Critics like Ernest Chesneau argued they should keep the name "Impressionist" simply because the alternative, "Intransigeant", was politically dangerous, linking them to Spanish revolutionaries and anarchists.
The Absent Leader
A glaring hole in the group’s unity was the absence of Édouard Manet. Although the press and public considered him the leader of the Batignolles School and the "signpost" for the new movement, Manet stubbornly refused to exhibit with them. He believed that the true battle was at the Salon, the "maternal bosom" of recognition.
Degas was furious at this "vanity," accusing Manet of wanting to remain a celebrity rather than a comrade. While Manet pointed the way for the younger generation, he chose not to join in with their shows, leaving the Impressionists to face the "public ridicule" alone. As critics noted, the revolutionary leader was missing from the sanctuary he had helped inspire.
The Ban on Double Exhibition
The most divisive issue was the group's relationship with the official Salon. In 1879, Degas forced through a strict rule: a ban on double exhibition. This meant that any artist who submitted work to the Salon jury was forbidden from exhibiting with the Impressionists.
This purity test proved disastrous. Facing poverty, Renoir defected in 1878, followed by Sisley and Monet in 1880. Monet’s decision to return to the Salon was purely commercial; he needed to sell to be seen, as did Sisley.
The Schism of 1881
By 1881, the tension between the "pure" Impressionists (monitored by Caillebotte) and the "Realists" (led by Degas) caused an irreparable rift. Gustave Caillebotte demanded a show focused solely on the artistic core: Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro. He accused Degas of bringing in "disorganisation" by inviting second-rate friends like Raffaëlli and Zandomeneghi to pad the numbers.
In the quarrel of 1881, Camille Pissarro found himself the arbiter. Although he aesthetically agreed with Caillebotte, he sided with Degas on principle, refusing to "throw out" colleagues they had previously accepted. Caillebotte, disgusted that the show had become a "Degas showcase" rather than a display of talent, withdrew, marking the end of the group’s cohesion.
The Aesthetic Collapse: Studio vs. Plein Air
Even among those who remained, artistic methods clashed. The myth of the Impressionist painting purely outdoors (en plein air) was rejected by Degas. He held a disdain for plein air, famously stating he would like to hire a police force to "shoot down" landscape painters like "harmful vermin." Degas painted his landscapes in the studio, using soot from lamps or vegetable soup to simulate rock formations and landscape, prioritising memory and composition over the "stupidity" of direct observation.
Finally, even the stalwarts began to doubt the method. In 1883, Renoir experienced a crisis, abandoning the fleeting impression. He realised that by painting outdoors, he had "forgotten how to draw." He argued that the light outside was deceptive—turning paintings into "turnips" once brought indoors—and that true art required the discipline of the museum. With Renoir’s return to classicism, the Impressionist dream of a unified, spontaneous art of the moment effectively came to an end.
This blog is based on the anthologies of primary sources edited by Art d'Histoire Academy. Find the complete academic references in the short courses "Disagreements among the Impressionists" :
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