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Brands
as acts of
leadership
For the first time, —
Change in culture rarely happens of the world, visual art was never
in sudden leaps, but there are to be quite the same again. Impressionists were not It is hard not to be inspired by
exceptions. Every so often, single the bravery and significance of
dates make everything different. Showing boldness and facing representing subjects, the Impressionist revolution, its
huge controversy, artists like power as a movement to challenge
On April 15th, 1874, a former Monet, Paul Cézanne and Alfred but rather focusing on conventions and create immediate
photography studio in Boulevard Sisley made a radical departure change, as we look at both the
des Capucines, Paris, premiered from the conventions of art – and, human experiences. context and the brands in our
the works of a movement called the by extension, their society. They 2021 Best Global Brands study.
Anonymous Society of Painters, did away with secular dogmas,
Sculptors, Printmakers, Etc. The institutions and traditions. In so doing, On the one hand, there’s
paintings – on sale during the they deliberately threw the gates between individuals and nature, the context.
show – depicted contemporary open to experimentation, giving and assimilating faraway cultures.
life in a technique that looked their contemporaries newfound It’s not looking good, and can be best
rough and unfinished to both art freedom to experiment in a manner Most importantly, they were described as a roomful of elephants.
critics and the general public. previously unseen – ultimately paving abruptly rejecting traditional Climate change. Inequality. Resource
the way to influential new styles canons and embracing modernity depletion. Overconsumption.
The exhibition was far from and much of the art we see today. – changing their way of working Humanitarian crises. The world
successful. Beyond incurring a to reflect the world they lived in. is still not working very well.
significant loss, it attracted insulting But what was the change
criticism and derision. Louis Leroy, really about? For the first time, The Impressionists’ boldness to And yet, brands are. They continue
a critic, sought to discredit the Impressionists were not representing make a conscious departure from to be powerful constructs that drive
artists by mockingly dubbing reality, but rather focusing on its conventions, swim against the tide beliefs, behaviours and choices,
them after one of Claude Monet’s human experience. They were and put new ideas above much easier and connect billions of people to
paintings: “Impression: Sunrise”. capturing fleeting moments – careers didn’t only create some of some of the world’s most influential
impressions, as it were – with bold, the most iconic artworks in history. organisations, unlocking an
Today, that premiere is remembered hurried strokes rather than pursuing It drew a line in the sand, igniting a aggregate value of over $ 2.6 trillion.
as the first Impressionist exhibition academic realism through obsessive change that would reverberate for
– and the date marking the refinement. They were celebrating generations to come, expanding the And so we are, as brand leaders,
beginning of modern art. In much a more intimate connection possibilities of art and expression. at an inflection point.
Best Global Brand 2021 Report 5
