Paul Durand-Ruel
Portrait byPierre-Auguste Renoir,c. 1910
Born	(1831-10-31)31 October 1831 Paris, France
Died	5 February 1922(1922-02-05) (aged 90) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Known for	Art Dealing, Impressionist Movement, Modern Art Markets

Paul Durand-Ruel (French pronunciation:[pɔldyʁɑ̃ʁɥɛl]; 31 October 1831 – 5 February 1922) was a Frenchart dealer associated with theImpressionists and theBarbizon School.^[1] Being the first to support artists such asClaude Monet,Camille Pissarro, andPierre-Auguste Renoir, he is known for his innovations in modernizing art markets, and is generally considered to be the most important art dealer of the 19th century. An ambitious entrepreneur, Durand-Ruel cultivated international interest in French artists by establishing art galleries and exhibitions in London, New York, Berlin, Brussels, among other places.^[2] Additionally, he played a role in the decentralization of art markets in France, which prior to the mid-19th century was monopolized by theSalon system.

He was bornPaul-Marie-Joseph Durand-Ruel in Paris, son of Jean Marie Fortuné Durand and Marie Ferdinande Ruel. His parents, who opened an art shop in 1839, used the Durand-Ruel name for the family business. In 1851, Paul enrolled at the military schoolEcole Militaire de Saint-Cyr but was forced to leave shortly after for health reasons.^[3] Paul Durand-Ruel married Jeanne Marie Eva Lafon in 1862; the couple's first child was born shortly thereafter.

In 1865, Paul took over the family business which represented artists such asJean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and the members of theBarbizon school of French landscape painting. In 1867, he moved his gallery from 1rue de la Paix, Paris, to 16rue Laffitte, with a branch at 111 rue Le Peletier.^[4] During the 1860s and early 1870s, Durand-Ruel was an important advocate and successful art dealer of the Barbizon School but he is best known for his relationship with a group of painters who would become known as the Impressionists.

He had three sons who worked with him in the business, Joseph Durand-Ruel (1862–1928),^[5] Charles Durand-Ruel (1865–1892),^[6] and Georges Durand-Ruel (1866–1931).^[7] After 1888 Joseph and his brothers began to take over the running of the family business from their father. They expanded into the American market, buying works by Eugène Delacroix, the Barbizon school and the Old Masters, and later by the Impressionists.^[5] But Charles is cited as having died in 1892.^[6]

The brothers held exhibitions of the work of Odilon Redon in 1894, Pierre Bonnard in 1896 and Paul Gauguin in 1903. In 1911 Joseph and Georges took over control of the business, specializing particularly in works by the Impressionists.^[5]

Joseph had a son he named Charles Durand-Ruel, who eventually took over the running of the Paris branch of the family firm.^[5]

Until the turn of the 20th century, the French 'Salon System' was the primary institution for exposing art to the public sphere. While the French Salon was an effective tool for funding and marketing new artists, it was completely centralized and relied on the state and theFrench Academy, making it difficult for artists to gain attention otherwise. TheImpressionists were the first group of artists excluded from the Salon to successfully launch a series of art exhibitions outside of the state-sponsored system, and they did so with the assistance of Paul Durand-Ruel and other dealers.^[8] The exhibitions relied on a business model where artists would retain the proceeds from their own sales, and the success of an exhibition relied upon the market demand for the art, rather than the reviews of the state. The emergence of the dealer-artists relationship and independent exhibitions beginning in the 1870s broke down the monopoly power of the Salon, and began a new era of art markets.^[9]

Prior to his support of the Impressionists, Durand-Ruel began his career in a campaign to raise the value of 'the beautiful School of 1830'.^[3] This group of artists were known for their work inRomanticism andlandscape painting, and includedJean-Baptiste-Camille Corot,Théodore Rousseau,Jean-François Millet,Eugène Delacroix, andGustave Courbet. Durand-Ruel played an active role in the collection of these painters' art in the 1860s and 70s. By 1874, having purchased 432 works by Delacroix, Corot, and Rousseau, Durand-Ruel was in a state of financial distress.^[3][2] It was during this time that Durand-Ruel developed seven innovative principles for supporting and increasing the value of art. Through organizing international exhibitions and curating an active public discourse around his art, Durand-Ruel's investment inLa Belle École proved immensely profitable, and helped finance his later support for Impressionist artists.

He recognized the artistic and fashionable potential of Impressionism as early as 1870, and his first major exhibition of their work took place at his London gallery in 1872. Eventually Durand-Ruel had exhibitions of Impressionism and other works (including the expatriate American painterJames Abbott McNeill Whistler who lived in London), at his Paris and London galleries. During the final three decades of the 19th century, Durand-Ruel became the most important commercial advocate of French Impressionism in the world. He succeeded in establishing the market for Impressionism in the United States as well as in Europe.Edgar Degas,Mary Cassatt,Édouard Manet,Claude Monet,Berthe Morisot,Camille Pissarro,Pierre-Auguste Renoir, andAlfred Sisley are among the important Impressionist artists that Durand-Ruel helped to establish.^[11] He represented many lesser known artists includingMaxime Dethomas orHugues Merle amongst others.

Part of the success of Impressionism was due to the international demand. Durand-Ruel established a network of galleries and exhibitions in many countries, with hubs in London, New York, and Berlin. Regarding the Americans' open-mindedness towards Impressionism, Durand-Ruel once said, "The American public does not laugh. It buys!"^[12] "Without America," he said, "I would have been lost, ruined, after having bought so many Monets and Renoirs. The two exhibitions there in 1886 saved me. The American public bought moderately . . . but thanks to that public, Monet and Renoir were enabled to live and after that the French public followed suit."^[13]

During theFranco-Prussian War of 1870–71, Durand-Ruel left Paris and escaped to London, where he met up with a number of exiled French artists includingCharles-François Daubigny,Claude Monet andCamille Pissarro.^[14] In December 1870, he opened the first of ten Annual Exhibitions of the Society of French Artists at his new London gallery at 168 New Bond Street, under the management of Charles Deschamps.^[14]

In London, Durand-Ruel pioneered many new strategies for exhibiting art such as providing a catalogue for each exhibition, charging an entrance fee, and strategically placing unknown works next to high-priced art to increase its value.^[3] During this time, he acquired iconic paintings of the early 19th century, such asJacques-Louis David'sMarat and Delacroix'sDeath of Sardanapalus to showcase in his exhibitions and enhance publicity.

It was during this time that Durand-Ruel began to introduce paintings by the then unknown Monet and Pissarro in his exhibitions. From 1872, he began making large purchases of Impressionist paintings. Durand-Ruel hosted London's first exclusively Impressionist exhibitions in 1882 and 1883.^[3] These exhibitions proved unsuccessful and almost bankrupted Durand-Ruel's enterprise.

In 1905, Durand-Ruel returned to London to showcase a massive exhibition of Impressionist paintings originating mostly from his private collection.The Grafton Galleries contained 315 paintings from Manet, Boudin, Pissarro, Renoir, and Monet. While the show only provided 13 direct sales for Durand-Ruel, it sparked an interest among international art collectors inImpressionism.^[3]

His business dealings with American collectors began during the 1860s,^[3] but were initially kept to short-term ventures, such as exhibitions in Boston and Philadelphia, as well as client visits in Paris. Durand-Ruel opened his first permanent gallery in the United States in 1887. The New York City based enterprise is seen as a cornerstone to Durand-Ruel's success with Impressionism.

Durand-Ruel & Sons was the official name of his American venture, which included his sons Joseph, Charles, and Georges by 1893.^[3] With the help of his sons, Durand-Ruel was able to have a permanent presence in the United States. In addition to the permanent gallery in New York City, he organized exhibitions in Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Chicago, among other locations. The family-run American enterprise continued operating after Paul Durand-Ruel's death until 1950.

Durand-Ruel's business in Germany came soon after his success in the United States. Germany hosted its first exhibition of the Impressionists in 1883, with the help of Durand-Ruel.^[3] With his main focus in the United States in the 1880s, Paul Durand-Ruel's presence in Germany came through the help of the German art critiqueEmil Heilbut, who purchased and sold many paintings between 1880 and 1896. His connection with German painterMax Liebermann led to exhibitions in Dresden, Berlin, and Hamburg of both French Impressionism and later work by Liebermann himself.^[3]

From 1899, Durand-Ruel's business in Germany was focused in Berlin, through a collaboration with German art dealerPaul Cassirer, who operated a permanent art gallery there.^[3]

His strategy followed seven innovative principles:

1. Protect and defend art above all else
2. The exclusivity of the artists' production
3. Individual exhibitions
4. A network of international galleries
5. Free access to his galleries and to his apartment
6. Promote the artists' work via the press
7. Associate the art world with the finance world^[15]

Through these principles, Durand-Ruel transformed art markets into a system where artists are monetarily supported by financiers impressed by their work. Between 1891 and 1922, Durand-Ruel purchased nearly 12,000 paintings. In 1920, at the age of 89, he declared:"At last the Impressionist masters triumphed just as the generation of 1830 had. My madness had been wisdom. To think that, had I passed away at sixty, I would have died debt-ridden and bankrupt, surrounded by a wealth of underrated treasures…"^[15]

Durand-Ruel died on 5 February 1922 in Paris.

While Paul Durand-Ruel has the legacy of bringing art to the free market, he viewed the pursuit of art as an end in itself. By seeking out the most authentic art, and investing in artists that he believed showed talent above all else, Durand-Ruel pioneered what it meant to be a modern art dealer. Furthermore, both Paul Durand-Ruel and his father attempted to separate their own political views from the subject matter of the art they supported; despite being conservatives, the Durand-Ruels invested in the progressive École de 1830.^[19] As a result of his approach to art-dealing, Durand-Ruel is considered as the first dealer to show an appreciation for Impressionist art.^[8]

Durand-Ruel was the subject of a major temporary exhibition titled "Inventing Impressionism" held at theNational Gallery in London in 2015.^[3]

Durand-Ruel owned a violin made byFrancois Lupot in 1810 until his death. He bought the violin fromAlbert Caressa as stated on the certificate issued byJacques Francais in 1955. The violin is offered on sale at 2023 October Auction of Ingles and Hayday.

• Biography of Paul-Luis Durand-Ruel and timeline of important dates atDurand-Ruel & Cie
• Biography of Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel atNational Gallery of Art
• Works by or about Paul Durand-Ruel at theInternet Archive
• Degas: The Artist's Mind, exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art fully available online as PDF, which contains material on Paul Durand-Ruel (see index)
• Documenting the Gilded Age: New York City Exhibitions at the turn of the 20th Century ANew York Art Resources Consortium project. Two exhibition catalogs from the Durand-Ruel Galleries.
• Inventing Impressionism.National Gallery exhibition devoted to Durand-Ruel 4 March – 31 May 2015.

• 1831 births
• 1922 deaths
• Businesspeople from Paris
• French art dealers
• Impressionism

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