BBC - The Impressionists Miniseries (2006) Part 1

The lavish BBC production as seen on public television. Rivalries, romance, and a struggle for recognition – a unique insight into the world of the Impressionist painters in a fascinating factual drama for BBC ONE. The French Impressionists' struggle for recognition in the face of massive hostility from the 19th Century art world is brought vividly to life in this sumptuous drama. The delicacy of Monet's water lilies and Degas' exquisite ballerinas contrast sharply with the real story which involved huge controversy, poverty, scandal and rivalries between a group of like-minded artists. Looking back on his life in 1920, Claude Monet (Julian Glover) recalls the story of the Impressionists - a movement that shook the foundation of the art world. He and fellow painters Auguste Renoir and Frederic Bazille begin a forty-year struggle against the Salon, the annual state art exhibition of the Paris art establishment. Overcoming criticism, poverty and misfortune, Monet along with his counterparts eventually achieve the success they only dreamt was possible. Richly woven with quotes from the primary sources, the series captures characters' idiosyncrasies – Cezanne's hatred of barking dogs, his mistress Hortense's love of lemonade, Monet's flamboyant dress sense and Degas' irritability – to bring the story of the Impressionists to life. The story is based on original letters and interviews with Claude Monet. The Impressionists is beautifully shot on location in Provence and Normandy - at Monet's garden at Giverny, and in locations in the UK.

Cast Julian Glover, Richard Armitage, Michael Mueller, Charlie Condou, James Lance, Aden Gillett, Andrew Havill, Will Keen.

Written by Sarah Woods and Colin Swash ; Produced and directed by Tim Dunn and Mary Downes

Part 1 Claude Monet's recollections of his friendship with fellow artists Manet, Degas and Cezanne begin this sumptuous dramatised history of the Impressionist movement. Their paintings are so familiar to our eyes, but they caused riots when they first appeared in Paris in the late 19th century. Young and enthusiastic, Monet leaves his coastal home for the bohemian cafe society of 19th century Paris to study painting in the studio of Charles Gleyre. His early years in the capital are a struggle against poverty and the rigid conservatism of the Parisian art world. However Monet forms friendships that will support and inspire him for the rest of his life – with his fellow students at the studio, Frederic Bazille and Auguste Renoir; and with artists Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Paul Cezanne. The group's revolutionary work will go on to shake the foundations of the art world. The driving force is Monet. Inspired by Manet's scandalous Le dejeuner sur l'herbe, in which he painted his mistress naked alongside fully-clothed dandies, Monet strives to perfect an art that reflects the real world. Just as the young artists are finding their way, war and revolution tear the fledgling movement apart. Monet and his family flee to London; Renoir spends the war fighting dysentery; Degas and Manet fight for the National Guard. But tragedy strikes for one of them. Bazille's friendship and generosity sustained the friends through their early struggles, but he is never to enjoy the movement's success.

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