Durand-Ruel, Paul

▪ French art dealer

in full  Paul-Marie-Joseph Durand-Ruel 

born October 31, 1831, Paris, France

died February 5, 1922, Paris

      French art dealer who was an early champion of the Barbizon school artists and the Impressionists (Impressionism).

      Durand-Ruel began his career in his father's art gallery, which he inherited in 1865. At the outset he concentrated on buying the work of Barbizon artists—particularly Camille Corot (Corot, Camille), Charles-François Daubigny (Daubigny, Charles-François), and Jules Dupré (Dupré, Jules)—and for many years he was the only dealer to do so. In 1848 he bought every painting by Théodore Rousseau (Rousseau, Théodore) that he could locate; he was unable to sell a single one of them for the next 20 years. He also advanced money to Jean-François Millet (Millet, Jean-François), providing his sole support for many years.

      In the early 1870s Durand-Ruel met Claude Monet (Monet, Claude) and Camille Pisarro (Pissarro, Camille). Though they and the other Impressionists had been denounced by the art establishment and shunned by the buying public, Durand-Ruel courageously bought their work and that of Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Renoir, Pierre-Auguste), Mary Cassatt (Cassatt, Mary), Edgar Degas (Degas, Edgar), Alfred Sisley (Sisley, Alfred), Édouard Manet (Manet, Édouard), and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre) as well.

      In 1886 Durand-Ruel went to New York City to exhibit the works of his painters at the National Academy of Design. The show was so well received that he established a branch of Durand-Ruel in New York City the following year. As a result of his persistence and foresight, he gained a reputation as the principal agent for the success of the Impressionist painters.

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