But one art dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, championed the likes of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro for decades, ultimately transforming artistic taste in Europe and the United States.
"Without Durand, we would have died of hunger, all of us impressionists," Monet is quoted as saying.Â
"We owe him everything."
"He was stubborn and relentless, risking bankruptcy a dozen times in order to support us."
At Geelong Gallery, Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel, Art Dealer Among the Artists, features more than 70 paintings, the majority from private collections in France.
With eight artworks by Monet, the show marks the centenary of the painter's death, as well as Geelong Gallery's 130th anniversary.
It's the most ambitious international exhibition in the gallery's history, according to director and chief executive Humphrey Clegg, who hopes the show will attract more than 100,000 visitors.
"A show like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, targeted very much at getting those new audiences in," he said.
Durand-Ruel (1831-1922) first encountered the unconventional work of Monet and Pissarro in London, where he was in exile during the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian war, and he devoted himself to promoting the artists who would become known at the impressionists.
They were committed to capturing light and clear colour, said co-curator and impressionist scholar Marianne Mathieu.
"That was a huge revolution, because the impressionists were the first to start painting with industrial colours, so they were able to paint outdoors with clear light, and they became champions of clear colour," she said.
After the French public and the press derided the movement, Durand-Ruel and his son took hundreds of paintings to New York, where they finally found a receptive audience.
Co-curator Claire Durand-Ruel is the art dealer's great-great-granddaughter, and she explained he would have approved of exhibiting impressionist artworks far from home.
"He thought the works should travel to the people, so if we bring these French impressionist works to Australia, it's very meaningful to me and would have been very meaningful to Paul Durand-Ruel," she said.
"This is exactly what he was doing, bringing unknown works and artists to educate the people, so they get to know them."
This work is still under way, with the exhibition also featuring a second generation of lesser-known impressionist painters.
Alongside works by Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Berthe Morisot are paintings by Albert Andre, Georges d'Espagnat, Gustave Loiseau, Maxime Maufra and Henry Moret.
Andre's Woman and peacocks is a highlight, as are reconstructed doors featuring decorative panels by Andre and d'Espagnat.
Durand-Ruel purchased more than 12,000 paintings throughout his life, paid stipends to artists he represented, and also covered the cost of their materials.
"We're very proud of him and what he accomplished, and we are also amazed because who can't be amazed about what he's done," Claire Durand-Ruel said.
The exhibition runs from Saturday to October 11.
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