The focus of this extraordinary and ambitious exhibition in the Albertina Museum in Vienna will be on the results of a five-year research project which has provided new, fascinating insights into the development of Impressionism and its techniques and modes of painting. Equal importance has been granted to the history and the technology of art. This approach has yielded fresh answers to such questions as “What is an impression?”, “Inside or outside?”, or “When is a painting finished?” – answers permitting to retell the story of Impressionism from a new perspective based on exemplary works by Courbet, Caillebotte, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Signac and Van Gogh. 40 historical objects, painting utensils and gadgets will convey an idea of an artist’s daily routine, of how he approached his motifs and prepared and executed his paintings. Didactic materials such as an installation for the explanation of optical phenomena or x-ray and infrared pictures will allow the visitor to literally grasp the genesis of Impressionist works. 40 historical objects, painting utensils and gadgets will convey an idea of an artist’s daily routine, of how he approached his motifs and prepared and executed his paintings. Didactic materials such as an installation for the explanation of optical phenomena or x-ray and infrared pictures will allow the visitor to literally grasp the genesis of Impressionist works, when painters competed with photographers. It is no coincidence that the first impressionst exhibition, in 1874 in Paris, took place in the atelier of photographer Nadar.
