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Impressionism, Post-Impressionism Impressionism, Post-Impressionism Art Appreciation 153 Instructor: Heidi Lung Learning Objectives Define modernism and explain the shared characteristics of the modernist movements. Explain the formal and iconographic characteristics of Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Symbolism. Explain the philosophies and theories that governed the modernist art movements of the later 19th century . Modernity and Modernism: Societal changes prompted a greater consciousness of and interest in modernity, which resulted in the development of modernism in art in the second half of the nineteenth century. Modernist artists sought to capture the images and sensibilities of their age while also subjecting the premises of art itself to critical examination. The two major modernist art movements of the later nineteenth century are Realism and Impressionism. Toward the end of the century, modernism led to the development of the avant-garde (artists whose work emphatically rejected the past and transgressed the boundaries of conventional artistic practice). Modernity and Modernism: In the 19th century with the growth of the middle-class in town and cities, a new audience for art began to emerge. Most artists lived in urban centers where they could interact with other artists and be part of an art world that included gallery owners and critics, as well as artists and collectors. The life of the city (especially in Paris) had a vital impact on these late 19th century artists. The capital of France, once deserted by Louis XIV for the artificial city of Versailles, was now again the hub of French government and culture. The Salons and Academic Art Realists like Courbet were challenging the academic painters of the official Salon in Paris. While Courbet glorifies two working-class women lounging in the outdoors, popular taste and culture called for women to be shown as goddesses and nymphs like in this work by Cabanel. Impressionism The Salon des Refusé and Manet Edouard Manet became the focus of the public’s attention in the “Salon of the Refused” – a show sponsored by the Emperor to show the many rejected artists of the official Salon of 1863. The painting causing so much debate was of a naked woman in a public park with two clothed men. Manet wanted the work to be seen as a painting in the academic tradition, of a reclining nude in a landscape, but reinterpreted in a modern, realist fashion. The men were in contemporary dress, and the woman was not a classical goddess - so it was seen as scandalous. Manet, 1832-83 Manet painted alongside Monet and Renior, but he never exhibited with the Impressionists. He is difficult to classify. Manet scandalized the public with this painting of a nude prostitute. Seen as the first modern nude, the matter-of-fact presentation shocked the public. Critics also faulted him for using ÉDOUARD MANET, Olympia, 1863 rough brush strokes and abruptly shifting tonality. Out of the Studio and into the Light Although Manet never exhibited with the Impressionists he came to be seen as the “father” of the new movement – his emphatic brushstrokes and insistence on painting modern life inspired them. The younger painters were interested in working outdoors, directly from nature - the new packaging of oil paint in metal tubes made oil paint more portable (and new colors were available). Manet’s work starts to show the influence of the brighter colors of the Impressionists. Defining Impressionism Developed in 1860’s France. Sought to convey direct, yet fleeting impression of a moment. Impressionist artist concerns included the accurate rendering of lighting and atmospheric effects, challenging traditional compositional methods and interpreting subjects from everyday life. Impression Sunrise Claude Monet, 1872, Oil on canvas Impressionism-A Radical Change Claude Monet's Impression, Sunrise (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris) exhibited in 1874, gave the Impressionist movement its name when the critic Louis Leroy accused it of being a sketch or "impression," not a finished painting. In addition to their radical technique, the bright colors of Impressionist canvases were shocking for eyes accustomed to the more sober colors of Academic painting. Monet, the pure Impressionist Claude Monet paints Le Grenouillere– a floating restaurant and dancing pavillion in Paris, in the new Impressionist style. He achieves heightened color effects by placing colors side by side rather than mixing them. The water in the foreground is made up of rough, overlapping, unblended strokes of sky blue, white, and black, with dabs of gold ochre added to suggest the reflection of the pavilion. Claude Monet Monet’s Giverny, France: Monet’s Garden (short video) http://youtu.be/rVNakLfaimw Slam’s website, Monet’s Water Lilies: Discover details of Monet’s masterpiece, view images of microscopic pigments and create your own work of art at: http://www.slam.org/monet/Create/ Renior, 1841-1919 Renoir's painting of this popular Parisian dance hall and cafe is dappled by sunlight and shade, artfully blurred into the figures to produce the effect of floating and fleeting light that the Impressionists cultivated. “The Earth as a paradise of the gods, that is what I want to paint," he said. 13-4, PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876 Impressionism Renoir Like all of the Impressionists, Renoir wanted to show the life he saw around him in Paris – but he was more concerned with human interactions and moods In his outdoor café the dappled light, broken brushstrokes, and bright colors are typical of Renoir’s Impressionist style He evokes the light of a late spring afternoon, filtering through the trees – he emphasizes vibrant movement and a sense of pleasure in this beautiful passing moment Seurat and Pointillism Seurat uses Impressionism to create a new kind of timeless, classical art - the subject, colors, and light of La Grand Jatte, come from Impressionism, but the technique is new - he begins by simplifying forms and arranging them into a pleasing composition. He reduces the Impressionist broken brushstroke to a “dot” and creates an optical mix – bright colors are placed next to each other and the viewer’s eye “optically” mixes them – he invents Pointillism. Degas, 1834-1917 The arbitrarily cut-off figures, the patterns of light splotches, and the blurry images in this work reveal Degas's interest in reproducing fleeting moments, as well as his fascination with photography. Degas did not paint “in the open air” or in plein air like other impressionists. Nonetheless he was considered an impressionist through his friendships and commitment to subject matter and 13-5, EDGAR DEGAS, Ballet his opposition to academic painting. Rehearsal, 1874 American Impressionists Cassatt's style owed much to the compositional devices of Degas and of Japanese prints, but her subjects differed from those of most Impressionists, in part because, as a woman, she could not frequent cafés. Born to a wealthy Pennsylvania family, Cassatt left the U.S. to study in Europe and became friends with Degas and began exhibiting with the other Impressionists. MARY CASSATT, The Bath, 1892 Post-Impressionism Post Impressionist artists include: Paul Gauguin (1848–1903), Georges Seurat (1859–1891), Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), and Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). Each artist had an independent artistic style for expressing emotions rather than simply optical impressions. They each emphasize themes of deeper symbolism. Using simplified colors and definitive forms, their art was characterized by abstract tendencies. Each followed diverse stylistic paths in search of authentic intellectual and artistic achievements. Post-Impressionism By the 1880s, Impressionism came to be seen as too limited and artists began to examine the properties and the expressive qualities of line, pattern, form, and color. Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin explored the expressive capabilities of formal elements; Georges Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, 1887 Seurat and Paul Cézanne were Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) more analytical in orientation. Oil on canvas Van Gogh: Father of Expressionism Van Gogh was inspired by the brilliant color and light of Impressionism, but will use them in new, more expressionistic way. He said that he wanted to portray the Night Café as a place where you could ruin yourself, go mad, or commit a crime. He uses distortion and intense color to emphasize feeling. Van Gogh: Father of Expressionism In Van Gogh’s Starry Night he creates a work that is not just an imitation of the world, but an intense recreation of feeling. The stars are like balls of fire, the earth rolls as if in an earthquake, the cypress tree rises from the foreground like a brown tongue of flame – all painted with thick lines of paint. Gauguin and the search for Paradise Gauguin felt that Europeans had become too civilized; modern life was corrupted by cynicism - He left Paris for Tahiti in an attempt to rejuvenate his art and life. In Spirit of the Dead Watching he paints his Tahitian wife terrified of a dead spirit. He uses the traditional format of the reclining nude, but adds bright, powerful colors, and a decorative, flattened space. Gauguin freed color from the bonds of reproducing visual reality. Cézanne’s Revolution In Cézanne’s Still Life with Apples he is no longer obeying the mathematical rules of perspective– the fruit bowl is seen from 2 angles at once – expressing the way we perceive the world – with movement Cézanne is reinventing the way pictures are made He shared with the Impressionists a distaste for conventional drawing – his forms are created by planes of solid color lying next to each other His work marks the end of the naturalistic approach that began with Giotto – Artists would now have the freedom to pursue their own vision and to ignore the rules Compare and Contrast The Starry Night Vincent van Gogh, 1889 Oil on canvas Impression Sunrise Claude Monet, 1872, Oil on canvas .
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