The Academie of Arts held annual art exhibits called Salon de Paris. Only works conforming to its standards were accepted. For artists, getting theirs works exhibited in the Salon meant winning prizes and opened up opportunities for commissions, newspaper reviews and building a reputation in the arts community.
A lot of works of other artists were rejected that year. They created the Salon of the Refused, an exhibition of works rejected by the Academie. It was a rebellion against the established artistic standards of the Academie. Many people came to the Salon only to laugh. But this exhibition drew attention to the existence of a new tendency in art and attracted more visitors than the regular Salon.
Edgar Degas is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. Over half his works depict dancers. These display his mastery in the depiction of movement, as do his racecourse subjects and female nudes. His portraits are considered to be among the finest in the history of art.
Pierre Auguste Renoir His early works were typically Impressionist snapshots of real life, full of sparkling colour and light. By the mid-1880s, however, he had broken with the movement to apply a more disciplined, formal technique to portraits and figure paintings, particularly of women.