impressionists & impressionism
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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