John Gray, Paul Durand Ruel and Inventing Impressionism

Available for over a year

John Gray talks to Matthew Sweet about why the Aztecs might have had a better understanding of freedom than we do and other human illusions about meaning and progress. His new book is called The Soul of the Marionette : A Short Enquiry Into Human Freedom. Also we consider how artistic movements become successful as the National Gallery stages an exhibition devoted to Paul Durand-Ruel, the french art dealer who discovered the Impressionists. National gallery curator Christopher Riopelle tells the story of the man who supported the likes of Pissarro, Degas, Monet and launched a group of anti-establishment artists into the art history pantheon. Jacky Klein, art historian and newly-appointed head of Tate Publishing and Godfrey Barker, man of letters and art critic discuss the anthropology of the art world through time and how and why art movements and artists gain prominence or fade from memory, who gains and who loses and why. Inventing Impressionism runs at the National Gallery in London from 4 March - 31 May 2015 Producer: Jacqueline Smith.