Batignolles group

He achieved some success at the Salon in 1861 with The Spanish Singer (1860), which received accolades from writer Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) and journalist and literary critic Théophile Gautier (1811–1872).

This enhanced reputation also brought younger artists into Manet's sphere out of admiration and respect, making him the leader of a new avant-garde movement centered around Batignolles.

Around Manet, a group of friends formed to regularly meet in the neighborhood's cafes, in particular at the Café Guerbois (which has now disappeared, but a plaque still marks its location at 11 Avenue de Clichy).

Their conversations and discussions contained fruitful exchanges of ideas and theories as to how to overcome the conservative Académie des Beaux-Arts that controlled the annual exhibition at the Salon de Paris.

"[1] It was also in London where Monet and Pissarro first met and developed a relationship with French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel, who would later become instrumental to the success of the Impressionists, beginning with large purchases of their work in 1872.

[1] This association became official on December 27, 1873, with a charter signed by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Degas, and Pierre Prins.