Guillaumin was a member of the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs (later dubbed, Impressionistes) from the start and he participated in six of the eight Impressionist exhibitions: 1874, 1877, 1880, 1881, 1882 and 1886. In the eyes of contemporary critics, he became known for his assured brushstroke and use of bold colours. In 1886, an astute critic, Félix Fénéon, called him a "furious colourist"; By the 1890s, his palette had grown even bolder, less faithful to nature. He was a Fauve a decade before Fauvism.
Full-time painter
In 1886, he became a friend of Vincent van Gogh, whose brother, Theo, exhibited and sold some of his works. Vincent held Guillaumin's work in high regard, commenting on it in at least 36 letters written from 1888 to 1890. In the mid 1880s, Guillaumin's studio was a meeting place for young artists such as Paul Gauguin, Paul Signac and Georges Seurat. Guillaumin was finally able to quit his government job and concentrate on painting full-time in 1891, when he won 100,000 francs in the state lottery.
