Un soir avec les impressionnistes
Tonight with the impressionists logo
From 1866 to 1874

Relive the inauguration of the exhibition that gave birth to the Impressionist movement, alongside Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Morisot.

Running time
  • 42 min
Production year
  • 2024
Co-producers
  • Excurio
  • GEDEON Experiences
  • Musée d'Orsay

An evening that changed art history 

Paris, April 15, 1874, eight o'clock in the evening. 150 years ago, around 30 painters got together to present a selection of 165 or so works to the public.

In the former studio of the famous photographer Nadar, on boulevard des Capucines, around 30 independent artists chose to exhibit outside the official Salon. Ambitious, provocative and visionary, their names included Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas. 

Transported to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building, you'll discover, room by room, some of the greatest Impressionist masterpieces, exhibited together for the first time. 

A special moment with the great figures of Impressionism

As you stroll along, excursions will take you outside the exhibition, to the places that marked the beginnings of the Impressionist movement.  

You'll be transported to the Salon de Peinture et de Sculpture – held at the Palais de l'Industrie at the time; to painter Frédéric Bazille's studio – where the idea for this exhibition was conceived; to Grenouillère Island on the banks of the Seine – where Monet and Renoir painted together; and to Monet's hotel room in Le Havre – where he created his famous painting Impression, Sunrise. 

These interludes gradually reveal the bonds of friendship and enmity that unite the group’s members, the substance of their quest and the scope of the artistic movement they are creating. 
Atelier de Nadar
Saint Lazare station
Salon picture
Bazille's workshop

Rose, your guide

  • Rose is a 24-year-old Parisian who would like to become a writer.
  • She knows every backstreet of the capital and never hesitates to help lost visitors. 
  • As the adventure unfolds, she'll discover that she possesses a unique gift: the ability to cross time and space with her words... 

Historical reconstructions and scientific curatorship 

What did the painters look like, what were they wearing, what did Paris look like on April 15, 1874? These are just some of the questions that had to be answered to create the environments and characters for Tonight with the Impressionists, Paris 1874. 

To answer these questions and ensure the historical and scientific accuracy of this immersive expedition, Anne Robbins and Sylvie Patry, exhibition curators at the Musée d'Orsay, supervised all the 3D reconstructions right down to the smallest detail! 

This immersive expedition is based on two years of research carried out by Hubert Naudeix of the Aristéas agency on behalf of GEDEON Media Group (reconstruction of Nadar's studio and the first Impressionist exhibition).

24
characters, including 12 main figures: a record!
Visitor reviews

"Thank you so much for this incredible experience and journey through time! Initially skeptical about walking around with a virtual reality headset, I ended up exclaiming "Oh sorry, Mr Pissarro!" when I bumped into the artist's image, before trying to touch Émile Zola's arm to show my admiration. Congratulations on this incredible achievement!"

Diana C. - Paris, France
Press coverage

The Guardian logo

"Unique and innovative, based on painstaking scientific research"

Read the article

Le Parisien logo

"A fabulous dive into a pivotal moment in the history of art"

Read the article
Find Tonight with the Impressionists, Paris 1874 near you
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World premiere
Musée d'Orsay logo
Credits

Co-producers
Excurio
GEDEON Experiences
Musée d’Orsay

Creative Director
Pierre Gable

Authors
Pierre Gable
Emmanuelle Piton

Scientific Direction
Sylvie Patry, General Curator of Heritage, Artistic Director, Mennour Paris, curator of the exhibition "Paris 1874. Inventing Impressionism" 
Anne Robbins, Curator of Painting at the Musée d'Orsay, curator of the exhibition "Paris 1874. Inventing Impressionism"
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