In 1875, French artist Gustave Caillebotte submitted a painting, The Floor Scrapers, to the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris.

The Academy rejected his submission.

But several local artists liked the painting, and they invited Caillebotte to exhibit with them.

Their names were Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Edgar Degas.

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Claude Monet understood Caillebotte’s disappointment.

As a young artist, Monet felt like only a limited success. Each year in Paris, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts organized a salon, which served as the city’s “premier art exhibition.” But the Salon only accepted a “handful” of Monet’s landscapes, seascapes, and portraits during the 1860s.

Most importantly to Monet, the Salon regularly rejected his most ambitious efforts, including the large-scale painting Women in the Garden.

Frustration eventually spurred action for Monet, Renoir, Degas, and other stylistically-similar peers. They decided to assert what little autonomy they had.

So starting in 1874, the group hosted their own exhibition. They may have felt they had little choice. Still, the decision “constituted a dissenting and independent gambit, as participants were not allowed to submit works to that year’s Salon.”

One of Monet’s paintings at that 1874 exhibition gave these misfit artists a more formal identity.

Local art critic Louis Leroy derisively called Monet’s work an “impression,” or sketch, rather than a completed painting. The painting became known as Impression, Sunrise, and the group became known as Impressionists.

That year, 450,000 people attended the Salon. Yet only 3,500 people attended the first Impressionist exhibition.

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Most of us have a natural tendency to dwell on outcomes.

When we think about our own future, we may regularly analyze whether we’ve moved closer to what we want in life. And when we hear about others, we often ignore or gloss over the specific details that determined the result.

We know Claude Monet today. We know that he’s one of the world’s most famous painters. And you may have even heard that a painting from his “Haystacks” series sold in 2019 for $110.7 million, the highest price ever paid at auction for Impressionist artwork.

But how did he actually reach this point?

The independent, competing exhibitions that the Impressionists set up reveal a good amount about Monet’s path. Amid unfavorable circumstances, he focused on what he could control, and he benefited. The exhibitions drew attention to the artists’ novel perspectives and techniques. And they also created a strong bond among a unique group.

We all would benefit from a similar approach with our money. Amid imperfect financial circumstances, we can focus on what we can control. For example, we can spend less than we earn. And we can save for unexpected costs. We can invest consistently.

These are simple, boring, relatively small steps. Yet, over time, they can position us to achieve that “better,” or more secure, or less-stressed life that we envision. We need some level of contentment with small steps, though. Because if we think too much about the outcome along the way, we set ourselves up for frustration and mistakes.

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Favorable outcomes, in art or in finance, are at the mercy of countless external factors.

With money, the question, “Am I on track for retirement?” seeks to bring certainty to one of the most stressful uncertainties that we face. And in fairness, retirement saving progress does include a real element of control. We can control how much we save and invest each month.

But there’s still an insidious emphasis on the outcome. The ultimate answer may still be decades away, and many of those external factors still can change in unpredictable ways. Interest rates may not move in our favor. Stock market returns may lag our expectations. Housing and college costs may outpace inflation.

Focusing on what we can control will position us to take advantage of many opportunities. But a bit of luck may be needed for the ideal outcome, just as Monet experienced.

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At one time, few people would buy Impressionist paintings, including those by Monet.

Instead, the artists depended on each other for support. Gustave Caillebotte, in particular, bought “dozens of their works at a time when few rich European men cared for them.”

Monet’s luck extended much further. Writes Derek Thompson in his book, Hit Makers:

“Convinced that he would die young, Caillebotte wrote a will instructing the French state to accept his art collection and hang nearly seventy of his impressionist paintings in a national museum. His fears were prescient. Caillebotte died of a stroke in 1894 at the age of 45. …When the artworks were finally hung in 1897, at a new wing in the Musee du Luxembourg, it represented the first ever national exhibition of Impressionist art in France, or any European country. The public flooded the museum to see art they’d previously savaged or simply ignored.”

Caillebotte’s bequest, and the popular exhibition, included only seven Impressionist painters. Claude Monet was among the seven.

Thompson continues:

“One century after the exhibition of the Caillebotte collection, James Cutting, a psychologist at Cornell University, counted more than 15,000 instances of Impressionist paintings to appear in hundreds of books in the university library. He concluded ‘unequivocally’ that there were seven (‘and only seven’) core Impressionist painters, whose names and works appeared far more often that their peers….

What set these seven painters apart? They didn’t share a common style. They didn’t receive unique praise from contemporary critics, nor did they suffer equal censure. There is no record that this group socialized exclusively, or exhibited exclusively.”

As far as Cutting can tell, only one trait separates the most famous Impressionists for their peers. The “core” seven painters were the only Impressionists included in Gustave Caillebotte’s bequest to the national museum.

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About the author: Kevin Mahoney, CFP®

Hi, I’m Kevin. I’m a financial advisor in Washington, DC. I’m also the founder of Illumint, an independent financial planning company in the District that specializes in financial planning for Millennials like you. I empower our generation with the confidence to invest an inheritance, financial gift, or extra savings. If you’re new to Financially Well, welcome – you now have access to the leading finance podcast for Millennials. I encourage you to read, watch, or listen to the ideas I’ve shared about making your money work for you. And then when you’re ready, please send me your thoughts & questions!