The Impressionists And The Man Who Made Them 2015

When impressionist painters were still being shunned and mocked by the art establishment - with one art critic even labelling them as "lunatics" - French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel recognised their brilliance and became determined to show them off. As the man who kept painters like Monet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro and Sisley afloat by buying up nearly 12,000 of their works and putting them on exhibitions, Durand-Ruel brought Impressionism to the world and has even been credited with creating the modern art market. After spending 20 years and nearly all his money, Durand-Ruel's efforts finally paid off when Impressionism took off on the overseas art market and reinvented the reputation of its artists. From the splendid collection of National Gallery London, Musée d'Orsay, Museum of Modern Art New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Sotheby's, to the top-secret logbooks of Durand-Ruel's, this film charts the journey how Impressionism survived and rose in the modern art world.