Paris in Ruins: Love, War, and the Birth of Impressionism

During the “Bloody Week” (May 21st-28th), artist James Tissot made a watercolor depicting the massacre of the National Guard by the military. It was one of the few artistic depictions of the events made by contemporary artists, although depictions of the ruins were popular. 

Many artists struggled to produce new art. Monet returned to the outskirts of Paris, Argenteuil, in 1871. Courbet was tried for his role in the Commune and the destruction of the Vendôme Column. He was imprisoned and eventually fled to Switzerland to avoid the enormous fines levied against him. Édouard Manet was depressed, particularly about the death of his “acolyte” Bazille. He returned to art in 1872 with a lithograph depicting the Commune. He submitted a painting showing a US Civil War naval battle to the 1872 Salon, an oblique reference to the “civil war” France had just experienced. Berthe painted intimate portraits of her sister in Cherbourg. Her mother, Cornélie, grew increasingly concerned that Berthe was still not married.

The fragile French republic was still under threat by reactionary monarchist and clerical factions. These factions restored the conservative governmental art system, regarding artists like Manet and Morisot as culturally and politically subversive.