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I don't like art. Not most of it.

But I have always loved impressionism. Always. This isn't something that has changed as I have just passed my 40th birthday.

I remember having posters of impressionist paintings on my childhood bedroom wall (Monet's Bordighera) and in my university dorm (more Monet, this time Impression Sunrise).

Sad, I know.

And so as I travelled in my 20s and 30s I made sure that I would always check out the impressionist section of the fine arts museum of whichever city I happened to be in.

I live in London so the National Gallery and Courtauld Gallery are favourite hangouts. But I've been to the d'Orsay, Marmottan Monet and Orangerie in Paris, the Met and MoMA in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, the Fine Arts Museum in Boston and loads more galleries besides (Toronto, Ottawa, Lisbon, Geneva, Bern ...).

The thing that I've only realised over recent years is that the impressionists as people were also truly amazing.

They were ridiculed for the best part of the 1860s and 1870s, but they kept going; many of them struggled to make ends meet (Monet sent scores of begging letters in the 1870s); and they did quite remarkable things (Manet fought a duel and defended Paris when the Prussians laid siege to it, for instance).

And so I've slowly put this website together ...

Reading (Sue Roe's The Private Lives of the Impressionists is a good place to start), writing, reading some more, updating, learning some CSS and HTML, buying an impressionist reproduction from Hong Kong (for $540, but it is 2 metres wide!), learning some javascript (I'm very proud of my quiz page!), checking my google rankings, reading (I've been through Rewald's The History of Impressionism, which should impress you--it is no page-turner!), and so on and so forth.

I hope you like the site, which is now generating about 1000 page views a day. Any comments, information, updates, musings, complaints, rants can be emailed to info@impressionistarts.com.

Tim

P.s. I have big plans for this website in 2022 and am looking for a new content writer. I want to add one article a week of either 1,500 (£60) or 2,500 words (£100). If you are interested, please get in touch at the above email address or using the contact form. Genuine art lovers only please!