Theme · Late Impressionism
Durand-Ruel and the Market
Monet's series reached buyers through one dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, who helped turn the Impressionists' work into a market.
Durand-Ruel took up the Impressionists in the 1870s and came close to bankruptcy twice. By the 1890s Monet launched each new series as a group at his Paris gallery. Branches in New York, London and Brussels widened his reach.
- He paid Monet 3,000 francs for Stacks of Wheat in May 1891 and resold it for 6,000.
- His New York branch sold The Four Trees to the Havemeyers and Water Lilies to Martin A. Ryerson.
- He sometimes held stock jointly with the Paris firm Bernheim-Jeune, as with Rouen Cathedral and Water Lilies.
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Image: Art Institute of Chicago Open Access · Public domain