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Impressionism

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Impressionism

• The movement has its roots in: Romanticism (feelings and emotions) AND the Realists (challenging the academies)

• The term is coined from a Monet painting titled, Impression: Sunrise

• The Impressionists exhibited together at eight shows between 1874 and 1886 (this does not mean they were always in complete agreement with each other!)

• Painting captures an impression—a moment

• Brushwork: short and choppy

• The effects of light on color! Plein Air (painting outside)

• Limited use of black paint—Shadows created with dark green, blue, purple, and brown

• Juxtaposition of complementary colors to create vibrancy

• Creative, cropped compositions with unusual angles

• For most, the Parisian middle class--bourgeoisie

Impressionists: What they have in Common

• Originally used for the French military—the units that advanced further from the troops

• In art, those that led the way with bold concepts and works— “Ahead of the mainstream”

• Generally, they were misunderstood by the public and rejected by the salons

• When a style becomes mainstream (Impressionism does in the 1890s), it’s no longer considered avant-garde

The Avant-Garde

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CLAUDE MONET, Impression: Sunrise, 1872*. Oil on canvas, 1’ 7 1/2” x 2’ 1 1/2”. Musée Marmottan, Paris.

• At 19, moves to Paris but rejects the conventional training of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, instead choosing the more relaxed private schools

• His wealthy family cuts him off, his wife dies and leaves him with two children, so he moves to Giverny

• In 1890, he buys property in Giverny and employs six gardeners

• Towards the end of his life, lives like a recluse with extremely failing eyesight

Monet

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CLAUDE MONET, Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (in Sun), 1894*. Oil on canvas, 3’ 3 1/4” x 2’ 1 7/8”. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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CLAUDE MONET, Saint-Lazare Train Station, 1877*. Oil on canvas, 2’ 5 3/4” x 3’ 5”. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. (Industrialization )

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GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE, Paris: A Rainy Day, 1877*. Oil on canvas, 6’ 9” x 9’ 9”. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

• Wealthy engineer and boat builder who befriends the Impressionists

• Helped to finance Impressionist exhibitions and collected more than 60 pieces of their work—these were left to the French people when he died

• Although not with loose brushwork, subject matter and composition make it an Impressionist work

Caillebotte

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PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876*. Oil on canvas, 4’ 3” x 5’ 8”. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

• Most famous for genre paintings of the bourgeoisie of Paris (females)

• Friends with Monet

• Used the model, Suzanne Valadon in paintings

• In 1892, developed severe rheumatoid arthritis but continued to paint for over twenty years

RENOIR

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ÉDOUARD MANET, Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882*. Oil on canvas, 3’ 1” x 4’ 3”. Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London.

• Influences Impressionism and in turn, they influence him

• Never exhibited with the Impressionists

• His style is hard to pinpoint (Realism? Impressionism?)

• Died at age 51, after complications due to syphilis and arthritis

MANET WITH IMPRESSIONISM

• Focused on the female like Renoir

• Classically trained (outstanding draughtsman). Considered an Impressionist but rejected the term for “realist” instead

• Known for interior scenes—not “plein air” and did not adopt the same brushwork

• Although his works looks “spontaneous”, he produced MANY sketches beforehand but photography also affects his composition

• Later, his compositions adopt a “peering through a keyhole” approach and are influenced by Japanese woodblock prints

DEGAS

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EDGAR DEGAS, Ballet Rehearsal, 1874*. Oil on canvas, 1’ 11” x 2’ 9”. Glasgow Art Galleries and Museum, Glasgow

Degas, The Rehearsal on Stage, c.1874*, pastel over brush and ink

Metropolitan Museum of Art

• American (studied in Philadelphia), ex-patriot in Paris

• Degas encouraged her to participate in the 4th Impressionist exhibition

• Both Degas and Cassatt did not paint “en plein air”—focused on the domestic and social life of wealthy women

• Influenced by Degas and Japanese prints

WOMEN ARTISTS DURING IMPRESSIONISM

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MARY CASSATT, The Bath, ca. 1892*. Oil on canvas, 3’ 3” x 2’ 2”. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Mary Cassatt

Maternal Caress

1891*

Drypoint, soft-ground etching, and aquatint on paper

• Married to Eduoard Manet’s brother

• Exhibited with the Impressionists

• Focused on outdoor leisure of Parisian middle-class (weekends to resorts at sea or the Seine)—with a sense of melancholy

• Most paintings contain a main female figure, loose brushwork, natural light and color

Morisot

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BERTHE MORISOT, Villa at the Seaside, 1874*. Oil on canvas, 1’ 7 3/4” x 2’ 1/8". Norton Simon Art Foundation, Los Angeles.

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Japonisme

• In 1850, Japan opens itself to trade with the west

• Culture captivates Parisians: Japonisme

• A large exhibition of Japanese wood-block prints in 1890 influences ENORMOUSLY!

• Ukiyo-e— “floating world”

• These prints are inexpensive and many Impressionists collected them

Japanese Wood-block Prints

Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, ca. 1826-1833

Left: EDGAR DEGAS, The Tub, 1886. Pastel, 1’ 11 ½” X 2’ 8 3/8”. Musee d’Orsay, Paris. Right: TORII KIYONAGA, detail of Two Women at the Bath, ca. 1780. Color woodblock, full print 10 ½” X 7 ½”, detail 3 ¾” X 3 ½”. Musee Guimet, Paris. 30

Monet with his collection of ukiyo-e