“The Impressionists were lost in the
mass of Salon paintings, even when
accepted,” the art historians Harrison
White and Cynthia White write. “With...
the independent group show, they could
gain the public’s eye.”
Thirty-five hundred people attended
the show—175 on the first day alone,
which was enough to bring the artists
critical attention. Not all of that attention
was positive: one joke told was that
what the Impressionists were doing was
loading a pistol with paint and firing at
the canvas. But that was the second part
of the Big Fish–Little Pond bargain. The
Big Fish–Little Pond option might be
scorned by some on the outside, but
Small Ponds are welcoming places for
darren dugan
(Darren Dugan)
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