Few exhibitions have been more mythologized than the one that opened in a Parisian photography studio on April 15, 1874. There, over the course of a month, the trajectory of art was altered, launching a movement, Impressionism, that’s still being dissected 150 years later.
Not that its protagonists anticipated as much. The 31 artists who convened at the studio of Felix Nadar at 35 Boulevard des Capucines were disgruntled, underpaid, and largely unknown. The exhibition was indeed a revolution, though not simply in artistic terms: these were the rejects of the Académie des Beaux-Arts Salon, the state-sponsored arbiter of artistic value, and by hosting an alternative show, the artists controlled how their work was to be exhibited, priced, and sold.
This note of pragmatism was touched upon at “Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism,” the landmark Musée d’Orsay exhibition that recently traveled to Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art. Throw in the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War and the chaos of the Commune insurrection, and those dreamy works by Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir seem less like reflections on modern society and more like willful escapes.
Monet paints the scene at Le Havre, from the VR experience “Tonight With the Impressionists.” Courtesy Gedeon/Excurio.
One component of the Musée d’Orsay’s exhibition that stuck rather more closely to the romance was “Tonight With the Impressionists,” a 45-minute virtual reality experience. It casts back to the fateful night of April 15 and plunges visitors into the rapidly modernizing world of the late 19th century, one the Impressionists so vividly captured. There are the grand new boulevards designed by Baron Haussmann, electric lamps, and, of course, a steam engine pulling into the Gare Saint-Lazare.
After showings across France and in Atlanta, Georgia, “Tonight with the Impressionists” is set to open on December 13 at Eclipso in Midtown Manhattan, an 11,000-square-foot space purpose-built to stage V.R. experiences. It’s the latest in a trend that’s using immersive technology to make some of the art world’s most popular figures, such as Frida Kahlo and Vincent van Gogh, more engaging and approachable.
Interior of the first exhibition of the Impressionists, from the VR experience “Tonight With the Impressionists.” Courtesy Gedeon/Excurio.
Gedeon Media Group, which co-produced the V.R. experience alongside the Musée d’Orsay, has worked to maintain historical accuracy alongside the entertainment. The experience’s narrative may be invented, but the details remain accurate—to the degree possible. Nadar’s studio, for instance, was knocked down in the 1990s, and there are no photographs of the 1874 exhibition itself. To compensate, Gedeon used architectural plans, exterior photographs, and upholstery and wallpaper information to recreate the space.
Beyond the studio and the febrile streets of Paris, “Tonight with the Impressionists” rides into the countryside and looks on as painters now considered masters got to work. Renoir paints the scene at La Grenouillere, a boating and bathing resort on the Seine, and Monet steps onto the balcony of his Le Havre hotel room and paints the work that granted the movement its name, (1872).
“This experience offers a journey through time and invites visitors from all over the world to experience the emotions that inspired the painters, particularly in two well-known regions of France, Normandy, and the Paris region,” said Stéphane Millière, CEO of Gedeon Experiences.
Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com
