The City
During the second half of the nineteenth century in Europe, Paris became the center of the art world. Under the direction of the architect of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann, the streets, architecture, and transportation system of Paris changed dramatically, setting the standards for twentieth-century urban life. Paris train stations were numerous and elegant, with high vaulted ceilings, glass roofs, and steel armatures never seen or used in this way before.
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The Arts
As the physical aspects of Paris changed, so did the art created there. Writers such as Émile Zola and Stendhal focused on the tragedies and strengths of the common man, just as France's government was undergoing a democratic revolution. Composers such as Claude Debussy sought to fill their music with colors and rhythms. Painters and sculptors claimed modern life, and those who experienced it as important subjects for artistic expression. This choice of subject defied the canon of the official Salon, which dictated both the subject matter (history, religion, mythology) and the style (smooth finish and careful brushstrokes) of the art it exhibited.
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Impressionism
The energy with which Paris became a preeminent modern city attracted people from all over Europe and the United States. Many artists, including Mary Cassatt, came to enroll in the city's numerous teaching studios and to create art with those who embraced modern life. These artists, some of whom are known to us today as Impressionists, sought to make modernity an important subject in their art, yet each had an individual interpretation of what modern life looks, feels, and even sounds like: Monet emphasized outdoor life, Degas chose everyday interior scenes. From 1863, the year of establishment of the Salon des Refusés, to 1886, the year of the last Impressionist exhibition, these artists and many others forged "a great movement of artistic renewal" (Edmond Duranty. "La Nouvelle Peinture," Paris, 1876).
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Social Life
Despite their differences in style and subject preference, the Impressionists sought each others' company in their studios and in the many Parisian cafés to discuss and debate artistic concepts and theories. Musicians, writers, and philosophers were also included in these intellectual discussions, which provided a stimulus for the work of all those involved. Participants in this intellectual exchange attended each others' exhibitions and concerts and collected each others' works. This strong social bond contributed to the philosophy and provocative works of these first "modern" artists.
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