Movie Review: 'Dawn Of Impressionism - Paris, 1874'

A Documentary Somehow Makes Impressionism Boring

Pizza And Ray Charles

I have a theory: everybody likes pizza and the music of Ray Charles (it’s not a complicated theory). I could probably add “Impressionism” to that list.

Its recreation of natural light, bold use of color, and revolutionary portrayal of everyday life rather than historical subjects remains relevant and compelling after a century and a half.

“Dawn of Impressionism: Paris, 1874,” however, is an arid ninety minutes filled with monologuing academics and voiceover actors reading old letters over a tinkling piano score.

Somehow, this documentary makes Impressionism boring.

Making Art in Paris After A Terrible War

L-R (1) New York Times, Front-page news, May 28, 1871. (2) Map of the Prussian Army Surrounding Paris in 1870. (3) Unknown, Prussian Victory March through Paris after the January 28 Armistice, 1871. Photograph.

Impressionist artists served in a French Army devastated by the Franco-Prussian War and that trauma had a profound effect on them and their art.

I recommend Rachel Chrastil’s excellent Bismarck’s War: The Franco-Prussian War And The Making of Modern Europe (Basic Books, 2023). She said:

The Franco-Prussian War transformed forever the destinies of Europeans. It was th…