Change in culture rarely happens in sudden leaps, but there are exceptions. Every so often, single dates make everything different.On April 15th, 1874, a former photography studio in Boulevard des Capucines, Paris, premiered the works of a movement called the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, Etc. The paintings - on sale during the show - depicted contemporary life in a technique that looked rough and unfinished to both art critics and the general public. The exhibition was far from successful. Beyond incurring a significant loss, it attracted insulting criticism and derision. Louis Leroy, a critic, sought to discredit the artists by mockingly dubbing them after one of Claude Monet's paintings:“Impression: Sunrise". Today, that premiere is remembered as the first Impressionist exhibition and the date marking the beginning of modern art. In muchof the world, visual art was never to be quite the same again. Showing boldness and facing huge controversy, artists like Monet, Paul Cezanne and Alfred Sisley made a radical departure from the conventions of art - and, by extension, their society. They did away with secular dogmas, institutions and traditions. In so doing, they deliberately threw the gates open to experimentation, giving their contemporaries newfound freedom to experiment in a manner previously unseen - ultimately paving the way to influential new styles and much of the art we see today.