Why were the Impressionists called the 'Intransigeants'?
- Art d'Histoire
- Jan 27
- 3 min read
In April 1874, when a group of dissident artists decided to bypass the official Salon and organize their own exhibition, the Parisian press struggled to find a name for this strange new school. While history has retained the term "Impressionist," born from a mockery of Monet's work by a certain Leroy, another label was circulating in the newspapers of the time, one far more dangerous and politically charged: Intransigeant. In the columns of newspapers, critics hesitated between the two, praising the "brutality of the intransigeants" who were fighting at the forefront to liberate art from the "finishers" of the Academy.
The Spanish Connection
To the modern ear, "intransigeant" merely suggests stubbornness. However, to a reader in 1874, it was a terrifying reference to immediate current events. The term was directly imported from Spain, referring to Los Intransigentes, the radical left wing of the Republican Party, who had attempted a coup in July 1873 to federalize Spain. These Spanish revolutionaries were rumored to be supported by exiled French Communards.
By labeling Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro as "Intransigeants," the press was not just critiquing their brushstrokes; they were associating them with anarchy, barricades, and political violence. A conservative newspaper made the link explicit, noting that it was "nothing but natural" for the "intransigents of art" to lend a hand to the "intransigents of politics." The label implied that these painters were not merely seeking a new aesthetic, but were attempting to undermine the social edifice from the bottom up, demanding a "clean slate" much like the political radicals who refused all compromise.
The Amnesty of the "School of Stains"
The parallel between artistic and political rebellion went deep. In 1876, the radical politician Georges Clemenceau was elected to French parliament on a platform demanding amnesty for the Communards. Simultaneously, the painters were demanding an "amnesty" for their "School of Stains," asking for the separation of the Academy from the State just as the Republicans demanded the separation of Church and State. The exhibition of 1876 was described by critics not as a gallery opening, but as a "public meeting," a term reserved for political rallies.
For a time, the artists accepted this dual identity. When the wealthy patron and painter Gustave Caillebotte wrote his first will in 1876, at the young age of twenty-eight, he bequeathed money to organize an exhibition of the "so-called Intransigent or Impressionist painters," treating the terms as synonyms. However, as the political climate shifted and republicanism gained ground, the "Intransigeant" label became too heavy a burden. It associated the group too closely with madness and violent disorder—critics were already calling Cézanne a "madman" suffering from delirium tremens and claiming the paintings could induce insanity in the viewer! Ultimately, the group strategically decided to temporarily rally behind the name "Impressionist." It was a safer, more neutral banner that allowed them to focus on their aesthetic revolution without being constantly accused of trying to overthrow the government.
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