IMPRESSIONISM: PART 1

Paris has captured the American imagination since the beginning of our history as a nation. It is a city of romance, culture, fashion and intrigue. To many people, the city is synonymous with art. That's because so many great artists have called Paris home.

OBJECTIVES

• Explain the origins of Impressionism.

• Identify characteristics of Impressionism.

• Name the major French artists of the period and their important works.

VOCABULARY

OVERVIEW OF IMPRESSIONISM

As with Realism, Impressionism, which developed in late nineteenth-century France, was a reaction to the rigid formalism and antiquated subject matter taught by the French Academy and supported by the art establishment of the time.

Impressionist Art

THE SALON DES REFUSÉS

When the judges of The Salon, the annual art exhibit of Paris, rejected them, a group of artists created their own exhibition. Édouard Manet's painting, Déjeuner sur l'herbe, or "Luncheon on the Grass", had shown a new generation of artists how to create "subtle depictions of light by the juxtaposition of bright, contrasting colors." The exhibitors at the 1874 Salon des Refusés (or salon of the rejected) collectively established a new way of seeing the world. The 1874 Salon des Refusés also was the beginning of the end for The Salon.

Claude Monet's painting Impression, Sunrise (1872, Musée Marmottan, Paris) gave this new group of artists a name.

Claude Monet (1840-1926) and August Renoir (1841-1919)

Monet is the central figure of the Impressionists. He didn't simply paint a scene once. He studied a scene through a series of paintings executed at different times of day in different seasons. He loved to paint outside because he liked to paint directly from nature. Different colors and qualities of light formed new images each time he painted. His famous series include the following subjects:

• the Cathedral of Rouen

• haystacks

• water lilies

• poplars

Monet developed and refined the quintessential Impressionist techniques, including the short, quick brush stroke and contrasting colors, over the course of a long lifetime. In his paintings, Monet captures the fleeting, ethereal moment and freezes it in time. He evokes light and atmosphere because he was concerned with nuances of color, color values, and touch. Monet's painting seems natural, but it is also formal. He at first intended his sketches to be stepping stones for future work.

The paintings of Renoir, who thought his paintings should be joyous and pretty, have also stood the test of time. As art critic Camille Mauclair said of his famous painting The Luncheon of the Boating Party, "He sees the gaiety of Sundays, the flashes of the sun, the oddity of a crowd carried away by the rhythm of the valses, the laughter, the clinking of glasses, the vibrating and hot atmosphere; and he applies to this spectacle of joyous vulgarity his gifts as a sumptuous colourist, the arabesque of the lines, the gracefulness of his bathers, and the happy eurhythmy of his soul. The straw hats are changed into gold, the blue jackets are sapphires, and out of a still exact realism is born a poem of light." ("The French Impressionists (1860-1900)" by Camille Mauclair, translated by P.G. Konody)

The Impressionist painters painted together, learning from each other. Monet and Renoir, in particular, painted together in the Paris suburb of Argenteuil, on the Seine River.

The French Impressionists

Notes

Go to this website featuring: Monet's paintings, and choose two of Monet's paintings to describe.

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

Morisot's landscapes are subtle with the emphasis on brushwork rather than color. She was highly influenced by her brother-in-law Édouard Manet. Her pictures often show women outside or in domestic scenes. Her most famous painting is The Cradle.

Notes

Go to the Art Institute of Chicago's website and choose one of Morisot's pictures. Click on the enlarge feature, and look for as many details as you can. 

Influence of Impressionism

It is interesting to see how Impressionism spawned other artistic movements. For instance, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac created paintings with tiny dots that when combined formed the picture. This style is known as Pointillism. The Post Impressionist movement would take it a step further with the brilliant use of color. This movement would be led by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. This would eventually lead into the Cubism and Expressionism movements.

LET'S REVIEW!

Before going on to the practice problems, make sure you understand the main points of this lesson.

• Impressionism developed in late nineteenth-century France and was a reaction to the rigid formalism and antiquated subject matter taught by the French Academy and supported by the art establishment of the time

• Impressionists painted the world around them rather than the stories of the past, and they were very influenced by Realist painters, such as Gustave Courbet and J.M.W. Turner

• The Impressionists mainly used primary (red, yellow, blue) and complementary (green, purple, orange) colors. They used small, short brush strokes to create the illusion of proximity and openness. They often used unblended colors side-by-side to create a greater intensity of color and tone.

• The Salon des Refusés (or salon of the rejected) began as a group of rejected artists at the annual art exhibit of Paris, who then created their own exhibit

• Édouard Manet's painting, Déjeuner sur l'herbe, or "Luncheon on the Grass", showed a new generation of artists how to create subtle depictions of light by juxtaposing bright, contrasting colors

• Claude Monet's painting Impression, Sunrise (1872, Musée Marmottan, Paris) gave the Impressionist artists their name.

• The French painters Georges Seurat and Paul Signac painted entire canvases with small dots of color in a scientific application of Impressionist theory known as pointillism

Complete the Quiz before moving on.