It is worth noting that only small segment of the middle class bought painting at the end of the nineteen century. But more did so than before. The Impressionists were successful, but they were laughed at, too, often by the middle classes. It is important, as well, to recognize that White and White's argument is not deterministic. They do not argue that the dealer-critic system led inexorably to Impressionism and only Impressionism. Rather, they argue that the constraints of the system shape the art that it produces. The dealer-critic system was conducive to Impressionism in a way that the Academy was not. Other styles also fit well within the dealer-critic system, however, and history could have taken a different turn as the Academy folded, leading to the rise of something other than Impressionism.