Monet exhibits twelve paintings: his Impression: Sunrise…

Monet exhibits twelve paintings: his Impression: Sunrise (1872; Musée Marmottan, Paris) prompts the journalist Louis Leroy, writing in the satirical magazine Le Charivari, to dismiss the show as an exhibition of the Impressionist.

Leroy thus unintentionally gives a name to the new artistic movement, as the artists themselves soon adopt the name as descriptive of their intention to accurately convey visual impressions. (The 1874 paintings by these Impressionists will eventually lead to what is now recognized as Modern Art.)

Nadar, a natural showman, is greatly pleased by the storm the exhibit raises; the notoriety is good for business.