Van Gogh in
Impressionist exhibition
rue Laffitte 1
It is unknown whether the current building at Rue Laffitte 1 is the one that housed the Impressionist exhibition. If you have more information about its current status, please let us know using the comments form at the bottom of this page.
Van Gogh in
Impressionist exhibition
Vincent probably visited the eighth Impressionist exhibition, which took place from 15 May to 15 June 1886 in a gallery at 1 Rue Lafitte. The art on show included works by Mary Cassatt, Armand Guillaumin, Camille and Lucien Picasso, Paul Signac and Georges Seurat. Vincent knew Impressionism mainly through hearsay before he moved to Paris but living in the French capital allowed him to visit exhibitions and see the works for himself. In October 1886, he wrote to his Antwerp friend Horace Mann Livens:
“In Antwerp I did not even know what the Impressionists were, now I have seen them and though not being one of the club, yet I have much admired certain Impressionist pictures – degas, nude figure – Claude Monet, landscape.” Read the complete letter
letterIn addition to the exhibition on Rue Lafitte, the most important Impressionist shows Vincent saw in Paris were Georges Petit’s Ve exposition internationale de peinture et sculpture (15 June–15 July 1886) and the second Exposition de la Société des Artistes Independants (20 August–21 September 1886).
Relevant letters from Vincent
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Nienke Bakker
Françoise Cachin en Bogomila Welsh-Ovcharov
Ella Hendriks en Louis van Tilborgh