Van Gogh and Monet Museum Protests Spark a Debate About Tactics of the French and American Artists
The most famous protest in Paris in the 19th Century was a protest against the work of Claude Monet. He was a painter who captured the beauty of nature with light, color, and a feeling of peace. That night, many of the residents of Paris went to the famous Galerie Georges Petit which was located on the corner of the rue Bonaparte and rue Georges Petit, Paris 13. It was a small private gallery that only had two paintings, by Monet. Two paintings where hung to be viewed by only one owner, but it was important to all the residents of the city. Some believed that Monet was one of the greatest painter, when it was just one of the greatest painters.
In 1848, in the midst of civil war, a group of students of the Sorbonne, led by Jean Jaurès, wanted to show support for the Catholic church. In France, Protestants and Catholics were not allowed to hold public protests and demonstrations. Jean Jaurès and three other students decided to go to the Galerie Georges Petit and speak with the owners. They wanted to speak with the owner, they wanted to ask him for permission to display the two paintings. The owner was a woman named Émilie Baudelocque. What Jean Jaurès did not know at that time was that the gallery owner was a woman, Émilie Baudelocque, and that she only wanted to sell the paintings of Claude Monet.
To protest against the work of Monet, students of the Sorbonne asked for permission to hang the two paintings at the Galerie Georges Petit, to protest against this “art for art’s sake”. The Galerie Georges Petit was a private gallery in Paris that only had two paintings by Monet. All three of the students who went to the gallery had a plan. They wanted their protest to have a purpose and they wanted it