Louis Leroy

Who is Louis Leroy?

Louis Leroy was a French 19th century engraver, painter, and successful playwright. However, he is remembered as the journalist and art critic for the French satirical newspaper Le Charivari, who coined the term "impressionists" to satirise the artists now known by the word.

Leroy's review was printed in Le Charivari on 25 April 1874 with the title The Exhibition of the Impressionists. The term was taken from Claude Monet's painting "Impression: soleil levant". Leroy's article took the form of a dialogue between two sceptical viewers of the work:

Impression I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it — and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! A preliminary drawing for a wallpaper pattern is more finished than this seascape.

The show was held in the salon of the photographer Nadar and organized by the Société anonyme des peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs, composed of Pissarro, Monet, Sisley, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Guillaumin and Berthe Morisot.

The term was subsequently adopted by the artists themselves and has now become the name of one of the most influential art movements in history.