oldandpretty.files.wordpress.com · web viewfamous figures known as impressionists are, most...

An Essay on The Origins and The Study of Impressionism Through Monet


Marie-Élisabeth Deschamps

Introduction to Art and Culture

Dawson College

1


Monet was an active supporter of the idea that a painting’s main focus should reveal an

interest in optical subjectivity. This personal conviction supports the relevance of some famous

works he did, which present vague depictions of landscapes. Accordingly, the reason why he

cherished such an “unfinished” technique (as the one used for the landscapes) was because it gave

him the chance to render viewers an impression. The term “impressionist” therefore refers to artists

having such intentions, which is the simplest and most logical explanation of the origination of the

term. However, despite impressions being at the center of impressionist paintings, what other

characteristics define them? More specifically, what makes Claude Monet an impressionist?

This essay will describe the formal and affective aspects of impressionist paintings. Further, it will

situate the work historically and answer questions such as how impressionism rejects classicism and

how it can be linked to romanticism. To address the issue of artistic influence, the essay will also

explain in what sense the impressionist movement anticipated works such as Picasso’s Les

Demoiselles D’Avignon. Finally, the essay will define the relevance of Impressionism for three

philosophical issues: the romantic concern with individual experience, Freud’s tripartite division of

the human psyche and the existential focus on immediate experience.

As mentioned in the introduction, impressionists valued abstraction and saw the purpose of

their art in its capacity to “suggest rather than to depict” (Thompson, 1937, p. 21). A good example

of a painting in which vagueness is given major interest is Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (Fig. 1).

Actually, the term “Impressionism” was coined after this work. In this depiction of the “Havre

harbor” in France, the sun is set against the dawn and the whole landscape is perceived through mist.

Brush strokes are short and seem to have been done quickly. As for the colors, not much contrast is

visible, despite the temperature contrast seen in the orange sun enlightening the grey clouds in the

sky. In fact, most hues in the painting are analogous and objects are made distinct only by how light

effects them. Yet, what is most important to realize is how this analysis of Monet’s work connects

2


with the generalized formal style of impressionism. As stated in the definition of impressionism,

“The Impressionist approach to painting is usually identified with a strong concern for light in its

changing qualities, often with an emphasis on the effects of a particular passage of time.” (WordiQ

Online) In other words, impressionists emphasized new aspects of the play of natural light and

studied how colors were reflected from object to object. Still on the formal aspect of impressionism,

it is said that impressionists painted with short strokes in a very superficial way, leaving the strokes

on the canvas perceptible, so they could concentrate on the essence of their subject rather than on

their subject itself. All that being said, I think what is most important to understand at this point is

how the impressionists wanted to reveal something more to the viewers than the single composition

of their works. Something deeper, perhaps more powerful, such as a perfume, that engaged them to

reflect on personal experience and therefore gave them the opportunity to understand art itself in a

new way. Hence, affect was central to impressionism and as Thompson explains, the intent of the

impressionists was to “mirror not the object but the emotional reaction to the object.” (1937, p. 21)

Now that the visual properties of impressionism are more familiar, it is important to situate

the work historically. In the late 1700’s, Romanticism was a major movement in Europe. It

emphasized themes such as the love of nature or passion, and concentrated on dynamic motion, as

opposed to balance, symmetry or correct proportions, which applied to classicism. However, some

young innovative painters in the mid-eighteenth century started rejecting some aspects of

romanticism, such as the intemperate exposition of drama. Also, artists wanted to reduce the power

of the “Académie des Beaux-Arts”, which prevailed over the French art scene and cherished

traditional standards such as religious themes. In their longing for novelty and greater realism, artists

shared a common desire to bring the perception of art at a more contemporary level. (Harrison,

1993) Soon, a new goal evolved into the idea of offering viewers a purely visual experience. This

idea spread throughout Europe, until the later half of the 19th century, when concrete actions were

3


undertaken and when French artists started to leave their studios to find themselves painting in

nature. Painters became proficient in this new technique and gave birth to the new French movement

know as impressionism. Famous figures known as impressionists are, most importantly (because of

the derivation of the term impressionism), Claude Monet, but also Frédéric Bazille, Mary Cassatt,

Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Berther Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred

Sisley. (Fig. 2, 3, 4 demonstrate well how these artists based their technique on the affect of light

from object to object.)

This emphasis on the immediacy of perception in mind expects the impressionist movement

to reject the principles of classicism. Hence, if impressionism seeks interpretations based on

impressions (interpretations influenced by one’s inner consciousness), classicism deals with

common moral, traditional and social perceptions. Accordingly, the WebMuseum associates

classicism to “the idea of dependence on ancient models but without any sense of qualitative

judgment.” (2002) The term “models” appearing in the quote suggests the concept of conformity,

which strongly differs from impressionistic paintings that present clear brush strokes. On the other

hand, the same brush stokes evoque movement, and thus, dynamic motion, which is a crucial facet

of romanticism. Dynamism is therefore a concept that connects Impressionism to romanticism. And

since romanticism is known to be the opposite of classicism, the impressionist rejection of classical

principles is easily confirmed. According to the WebMuseum once again, the romantic generation

put an “emphasis upon imagination as a gateway to transcendent experience and spiritual truth.”

(2002) In this regard, the road to truth (associated with romanticism) or the road to meaningful

interpretations (associated with impressionism) was only possible, for romantic artists and

impressionists, through a way of making art that rejected self-restraint (since it valued the release of

impressions) and other characteristics of the classical ideologies. This similar conception of the

purpose of art making is therefore what truly links romanticism and impressionism.

4


Now, How did Impressionism lead to works such as Picasso’s Les Demoiselles D’avignon

(Fig. 5)? The simplest answer to this question is “by Cezanne’s artistic influence”. In fact,

Wikipedia describes the French painter as the one who formed “the bridge between late 19th century

Impressionism and the early 20th century's new line of artistic enquiry, Cubism.” (2010)

Accordingly, Charles Harrison (1993) claims that modern art begins with impressionism and

extends from approximately the 1860s to the 1970s. From the earlier extend of that period, two

distinct opinions, concerning impressionism, initially predominated; the first one associated the

movement to the advance of realism while the second one saw it as a new movement based on

subjectivism. However, influenced by the avant-garde mentality of the time, the second conception

of impressionism turned out to be given more importance. The idea of subjectivism expanded and

sponsored the symbolist movement, in where artists used symbols to indirectly lead viewers to the

discovery of some sense of truth. Later on, symbols became a new way of expression which again,

led to new conceptions of art making. On the one hand, expressionism was given a new value, and

on the other, cubism started gaining a new interest. In fact, the art of simplicity seen in cubism,

which could still play with symbols, gained more and more popularity. Artists saw an interest in

depicting subjects from various viewpoints, since this new technique allowed them to represent

subjects in a broader context. Taking Les Demoiselles D’Avignon as an example of cubism, we can

see that the women are depicted from different angles. Even if flatness seems to prevail, these

different perspectives treat subjects in a way that is similar to the way light effects subjects in

impressionist works. That being said, both techniques anticipate abstraction.

The romantic concern on individual experience can, therefore, be easily linked to

impressionism. Perhaps, as pointed out previously, impressionism focuses on rendering impressions,

which undeniably vary from one individual to the next. The experience ensuing from a painting is

therefore very personal even though the impressionist’s sense of individuality is limited by the fact

5


that impressionism, as Cubism, is not particularly interested in the appeal to the raw expression of

intense emotions. But, equally important is the connection between impressionism and Freud’s

tripartite division of the human psyche. In fact, from a Freudian point of view, the human psyche

could be divided in three sections, comprising the Id (the animal drive within us), the Ego (our

conscious self known to operate according to reality principles) and the Superego (our moral self

acting as a judge). Since the Id can’t be controlled and figures as the seat of unconscious thoughts

(perhaps repressed thoughts), it is the most individual part of our selves. What needs to be

understood though is the fact that impressionism, dealing with impressions, dealt also with one’s

unconscious self. In fact, since impressions can’t be controlled, impressionism logically refers to

one’s Id. Perhaps, impressionists might have realized that the best way to move people with their

works was by showing an unfinished quality. This way, viewers were free to give a very personal

meaning to the suggestions unfolded by the incomplete aspect of the work. Subsequently,

impressionists might have found another way to move people by offering them, via visual

depictions, immediate experiences. These, perhaps, forced the viewers to face the influence of the

past in their immediate interpretations and to question themselves about the reality of the present.

The realization that everything somehow comes from the past therefore possibly led them to the

existential theme of “the Absurd”, which is linked to the notion of the meaninglessness of existence

(since the present always takes the past into consideration.) Knowing the past as an abstract notion,

viewers were likely to acknowledge the purposeless aspect of reality (an aspect figuring as the

center of the theme of the Absurd).

In Brief, an impressionist is a painter who desires to suggest meaning rather than to flatly

describe it. As seen for instance with Claude Monet, the depiction of subjects fallowed the effects of

light from object to object. As impressionists used the open air to fuse with what they depicted, so

they tried to offer a broad field of sensations to viewers. Impressionist works are therefore marked

6


by an unfinished quality. Monet, in his depiction of Impression, Sunrise, well demonstrated such a

formal aspect and initiated the impressionist movement. Evolving with time, impressionism brought

up new artistic conceptions, which, for instance, led to symbolism and cubism. All that considered,

it would be interesting to study how the perception of art primarily focused on the individual, as for

impressionism, to finally ended up focusing on more common or social perceptions, initiating

movements such as Pop art.

7


References

WebMuseum, Paris. (2002). Classicism. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/classicism

WebMuseum, Paris. (2002). Romanticism. Retrieved November 17, 2010, from

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/romanticism

Wikipedia. (2010). Paul Cézanne. Retrieved December 1, 2010, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cézanne

WordiQ. (2010). Impressionism – Definition. Retrieved November 16, 2010, from

http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Impressionism

Harrison, C. (1993). Art in Theory 1900 - 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Oxford :

Blackwell

Thompson, O. (1937). Debussy, Man and Artist. New York: Dodd, Mead & company.

Paintings’ Reference

A&E Television Networks. (n. d.) Bio. True Story. Retrieved November 16, 2010, from

http://www.biography.com

Paintings

8


Fig. 1. Impression, Sunrise, 1872, 48 cm x 63 cm, Monet Fig. 2. Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre, 1876, 131 cm x 175 cm, Renoir

Fig. 3. Eugene Manet et sa Fille au Jardin, 1883, Fig. 5. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, 60 cm x 73,5 cm. Berthe Morisot 243,9 cm x 233,7 cm, Picasso

Fig. 4. Le Boulevard Montmartre, effet de nuit, 1897, 53.3 cm x 64.8 cm, Camille Pissarro

9


10

oldandpretty.files.wordpress.com · web viewfamous figures known as impressionists are, most...

Documents