Impressionism(1870-1890)

Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Sisley ,Bazille, Pissarro, Mary Cassatt

The individual subjective view: Constitutes the greatest revolution in the visual art in the era of Modernism. 

Impressionism: The Impressionists in general are known for painting out of doors in a direct and painterly manner. It is a movement which had its beginnings in Paris among a group of artists who knew each other. The name scathingly given to the movement in 1874 by Louis Leroy (an art critic) on viewing a painting of Monet called Impression Sunrise.

The exhibition caused a great stir among the viewers and the participants of this group were Degas, Pissarro, Cezanne, Renoir, Monet, Sisley and Morisot

Aimed not at painting the idealized version of the external world, but an attempt to establish an immediate impression

Precursors & Influences

The Impressionists did not suddenly appear as an isolated phenomenon.

19th C. Precursors: Romantics and Realists

Both these groups tried to break away from the static art of the academy and sought for a personal form of expression.

Earlier manifestations that had a very important influence on the impressionists: • The subjects of the Romantics and Realists

• The ideas of Barbizone School and landscape themes

• The abstract studies of movement in Turner’s land and seascapes.

Romantics: The imagination and emotion was an important element in art Realists: Sought inspiration in coeval reality.

The subjects of Impressionists:The lives of working class.The depiction of common man in act The studies of nature in varied light conditions.

An essential factor in growth of Impressionism:The invention of photography in 1839 that developed extensively within a decade as a popular art form.

In 1850 the painter Paul Daroche (Academic Painter of the salon) somberly declared - “Now the art of painting is dead”

Photography meant that the painting was liberated from the constraints of imitating reality as closely as possible. The camera recorded this reality with a fidelity, to truth and detail which no painter could equal.

This meant that the artist was freed from the task and was free to give his own interpretation of reality.

The Impressionists fascination with this new discovery:The magical immediacy of the subjectsThe momentary gesturesThe photographic framework A reference, to help the paintings.

Colours: a crucial Impressionist toolB&W Photography: lacked colour

The discovery of colour theory that the whole spectrum of colour is based on a few pure colours was extensively explored by the impressionistic technique.

This phenomenon of colour along with light was seriously studied by the impressionist painters.

Use of Colours: applied next to each other with small separated brushstrokes and this juxtaposition of colours seemed to merge together when seen from a distance.

Unless seen from a distance, no interrelationship between these blobs of paint could be established.

The Impressionist artists were a diverse group with strong individualistic approach.

Sisley painted virtually only landscapes.

Sisley Plates

Degas effortlessly endeavored to capture the transient moments or tried to grasp the moving world in still images, capturing the moments of modern life – i.e.from his depictions of ballet dancers, to his fascination with scenes of bars and cafes.

Degas Plates

Monet developed a variety of themes which clearly demonstrate that he was a legendary master of light and is widely admired for the use of subtle colors and innovative painterly technique.

Monet Plates

Impressionists focused on capturing the fleeting and ephemeral effects of light on objects.

Pissarro ,known for the lyrical representations of the landscapes and as a master of portraying the elusive play of light and shadow

Pissarro Plates

Manet and Renoir painted a large variety of subjects which included both figurative as well as landscapes.

Manet PlatesRenoir Plates

Japonism a popular trend among impressionists

Mary Cassatt for instance combined Japanese lines and composition with colours applied in an impressionistic manner. She painted intimate, beautiful images that reveal the world of women (especially mothers) and children.Mary Cassatt Plates

Claude Monet(1840-1926)

• He wasn’t the first to paint this way, but the first to be “accepted” and called an Impressionist

• Main subjects were nature and landscapes- en plein air

• Painted same scenes day after day to capture changing of light

• weather, atmosphere and the changing of seasons

• Claude Monet became the "Father of Impressionism" when he exhibited this painting of a boating scene at sunrise. His manner of painting with loose brushstrokes and bright colors in a sketchy manner prompted a writer to mimic the title in a newspaper essay. Calling him an "impressionist" was meant to be an insult, but the term stuck because it fit the ideals of the artist and his followers.

• Monet's early paintings of this style often include figures, he soon discovered that it was the landscape which most captured his interests.

• Monet often painted the same subject over and over again, coming back to a scene to observe the changing light and weather conditions. Above is a cluster of poplars painted along the Epte River in 1891.

• You will notice, in this case, that the composition is almost exactly the same - but that the changing colors are a result of different times of day and lighting conditions

Monet, Impression Sunrise

Coquelicots, La promenade (Poppies), 1873

Springtime 1872

Jean Monet on his hobby horse, 1872Women in a Garden, 1866–1867

Monet, Boulevard des Capucines

Grainstacks, end of day, Autumn, 1890–1891,

Grainstacks in the Sunlight, Morning Effect, 1890-91

1903 1904 1905

The Houses of Parliament Series:

One might easily say that he is not painting the Houses of Parliament at all. The buildings merely provide the composition, but the true subject is light and color.

The Cliffs at Etretat, 1885

Monet, Rouen Cathedral, Dull WeatherMonet, Rouen Cathedral, Bright Sun light

Water lilies at Giverny

Monet, Water lilies

Monet, Water lilies

Monet, Water lilies

Monet, The Japanese bridge

Among his important works are a series of paintings of the River Themes , mostly around Hampton court, executed in 1874, and landscapes depicting places in or near  Moret-sur-Loing.

He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting landscape (i.e., outdoors). He deviated into figure painting only rarely and, unlike Renoir and Pissarro, found that Impressionism fulfilled his artistic needs.

Alfred Sisley (1839–1899)

Sisley, Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne

Sisley, Provencher's Mill at Moret

Sisley, Garden Path in Louveciennes Sisley, Snow at Louveciennes

Sisley, The Canal of Loing at Moret

Sisley, Station at Sevres

Edgar Degas(1834-1917)

 

Self-portrait, 1855

• Cropped subjects awkwardly • Showed emotional tension • Chose unusual viewpoints. • Linked to his fascination with

photography. • He captured ‘snapshots’• Painted ballerinas because they

sold well!

• Degas is know primarily for his paintings and pastels of ballerinas

• He created literally hundreds of images of this subject, but the artworks are just as much about movement, light and color as they are about the ballet. Though he captures the elegance of the dance, the figures are often in awkward poses, and are often cropped from the composition in unusual ways. This is his most innovative contribution.

• Instead of looking posed, he gives the scenes an element of spontaneity, a primary concern of all impressionists. Like the other impressionists, he is interested in light and changing atmosphere - but his is almost always the light of the stage or indoor lighting.

Degas, Place de la Concorde

Degas, Pole

Degas, The dance class

Degas, The Rehearsal

Degas, The dance Class

Degas, The tub

At the Ballet: Woman with a Fan 1883-5

View From the Loge

Degas, The dance Class

Camille Pissarro (1830- 1903)

Renoir referred to his work as "revolutionary", through his artistic portrayals of the "common man", as Pissarro insisted on painting individuals in natural settings without "artifice or grandeur

Pissaro, Les chataigniers a Osny (The Chestnut Trees at Osny)

Pissaro, Gelee balance (Hoarfrost)

Pissarro, The orchard

Pissarro, The autumn path

ÉDOUARD MANET (1832 –1883)

He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, and a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism …he was a classical artist, but then ‘adopted’ the notions of impressionism. ..he became friends with other Impressionist artists and they influenced each other. Most well known for his social scenes.

Manet, The Balcony

Luncheon on the Grass, 1863

In the Conservatory, 1879

Olympia, 1863

The Dead Christ with Angels, 1864

The Railway, 1872

Manet, Painting in His Floating Studio

Manet, Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère

Manet, Detail, Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère

Manet, The Execution of emperor Maximilan

August Renoir(1841-1919)

 

• Vibrant light • Saturated color• Most often focused on people in

intimate and candid compositions.

• Females were his primary subjects.

• Later in life he went back to more traditional style of painting

• Renoir was a painter of people. Like Monet, he was interested in light and how it defined the passing moment - but he rarely painted without images of people enjoying themselves. It is important to note that these are always modern people. They are his contemporaries: primarily middle-class Parisians enjoying their leisure time in outdoor or cultural events.

• In characteristic Impressionist style, Renoir suggested the details of a scene through freely brushed touches of color, so that his figures softly fuse with one another and their surroundings.

Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party

Detail, The Luncheon of the Boating Party

Renoir, The oarsman

Renoir, The Canoeists' Luncheon

Renoir, The theater box

Renoir, The walk

Renoir, On the terrace

Mary Cassatt(1844-1926)

Self-portrait by Mary Cassatt,1878

• Mary Cassatt was one of few women artists involved in the Impressionist group. An American, she was a friend of Edgar Degas, and was invited by him to exhibit with them in Paris.

• The asymmetrical compositions are also strongly influenced by the work of Japanese printmakers. Cassatt mastered the mediums of oil painting, pastel, and printmaking (especially dry point with aquatint).

• The subject which most frequently captured her attention was that of the tenderness expressed between mothers and children.

Mary Cassatt, Mother and child

Mary Cassatt, Mother and child

Mary Cassatt, Lady at the Tea Table

Mary Cassatt, Young girl at window

Mary Cassatt, Summertime

Mary Cassatt, La Toilette

Mary Cassatt, The bath

Mary Cassatt, The lamp

Mary Cassatt, The letter

Mary Cassatt, Young women trying on a dress