Impressionism is a tough call. Is it degenerate, or based? On the one hand, you have a group of artists who long for pure art, away from the the pompous world of patronage and portraiture. The en plein air movement is certainly based, and almost monastic in artists like Monet. Mary Cassat’s celebration of mothers and children is based, as is Degas’ studies of the innocent beauty of young ballerinas. Cezanne’s lovely apples are hypnotic and wonderful. Hard to say anything bad about him, really.

On the other hand, you have the degenerate and syphilitic midget Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who reveled in the debauchery of Paris cafe society and absinthe. And Édouard Manet, who was nothing more than a fancy pornographer. Van Gogh was simply insane. They should have gotten him help.

Impressionism is a tough call. Is it degenerate, or based? On the one hand, you have a group of artists who long for pure art, extracted the the pompous world of patronage and portraiture. The en plein air movement is certainly based, and almost monastic in artists like Monet. Mary Cassat’s celebration of mothers and children is based, as is Degas’ studies of the innocent beauty of young ballerinas. Cezanne’s lovely apples are hypnotic and wonderful. Hard to say anything bad about him, really.

On the other hand, you have the degenerate and syphilitic midget Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who reveled in the debauchery of Paris cafe society and absinthe. And Édouard Manet, who was nothing more than a fancy pornographer. Van Gogh was simply insane. They should have gotten him help.