Philippe durand ruel biography

The Parisian art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel played an instrumental role in the rise of the Impressionists, backing these strikingly modern artists.
In 1865, Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922) became responsible for the gallery founded by his father, Jean.
He was the art dealer who bought and sold more Impressionist paintings than all other dealers combined, for which he has been claimed to be the inventor of.

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Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

role Dealer/Gallery dates 1834-1974 city Paris other citiesNew York, NY;countryFrance sex n/a historical notes Galerie Durand-Ruel was run be a French family of dealers, Paul Durand Ruel (1831-1922) was one of the most influential forces behind the promotion and sale of 19th-century French painting, especially the Barbizon and Impressionist painters, a market for which he developed among wealthy American collectors. Gallery closed in 1974 but research in the archives continues.

Firm maintains extensive archives and will search archives for a fee.
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Paul Durand-Ruel and the Twilight of Impressionism

In 1865, Paul Durand-Ruel (1831-1922) became responsible for the gallery founded by his father, Jean. Over the years, he established himself as one of the most renowned art dealers in Paris. He dedicated much of his life to defending and promoting modern art against those who advocated academic painting.

Durand-Ruel initially supported painters such as Eugène Delacroix and Gustave Courbet, as well as the known as the ‘Barbizon School’ (Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny and Jean-François Millet, among others), before embarking shortly afterwards on his most famous enterprise: championing the Impressionist artists, including Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Camille Pissarro. In the final decade of the 19th century, Durand-Ruel undertook a new (and less well-known) adventure: supporting and promoting a new generation of painters, that of Albert André, Georges d’Espagnat, Gustave Loiseau, Maxime Maufra and Henry Moret.

Heirs to Impressionism, these artists operated within a dynamic and stimulating artistic environment, where

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Inventing Impressionism: Paul Durand-Ruel and the Modern Art Market

Full of impressionist masterpieces, this exhibition looks at how art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel struggled to convince a sceptical public of the merits of these works and, in doing so, shaped today’s art industry

The National Gallery, London
4 March – 31 May 2015

by EMILY SPICER

“They may be madmen,” said the 19th-century art critic Edmond Duranty about the impressionists, “but the little finger of a fool is assuredly worth more than the entire head of a banal man.” Looking at a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) or Claude Monet (1840-1926) now, it is hard to imagine impressionism ever being controversial. When you hear the word, the chances are that sunny colours, dappled light, rosy cheeks and, more often than not, an abundance of flowers, will spring to mind. The artists of this movement are now so popular that their paintings have become the go-to source for chocolate boxes and biscuit tins. But it wasn’t always this way.

There was a time when the French public was quite simply mystified by Monet,