Arts
On this episode, we’re discussing the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. Born in Paris in 1831, Durand-Ruel took over his father’s business as an art dealer a few years before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, during which time he escaped to London. It was around this time that he became familiar with a new group of artists called the Impressionists. He became an advocate of their artistic work, seeing their potential for commercial success long before many others in the art world. He is credited with helping to establish some of the best-known artists of this period, including Degas, Manet, Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. Stating the case for Paul Durand-Ruel as a revolutionary is Professor Frances Fowle, Personal Chair of Nineteenth-Century Art at Edinburgh College of Art and Senior Curator of French Art at National Galleries Scotland. Her specialist area is European and American nineteenth-century art, with an emphasis on collecting, the art market, national identity, cultural revival and artistic networks. She is Senior Trustee of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow and sits on the Burrell Renaissance Board. She is also a founding Board member of the International Art Market Studies Association and is on the steering committee for the European Revivals Research Network, initiated by the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki. Revolutionaries is produced and recorded at Edinburgh College of Art, and is hosted by Ardie Collins from the Engagement and Communications team. Music is Noahs Stark by krackatoa.