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Explore the rebellious Impressionist period of late 19th and early 20th century art, its origins, characteristics, famous artists like Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro, and its impact on the art world.
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End of the 19th century & beginning of the 20th century modern art
Impressionism 1860s - 1900s
Background to the Impressionist Period • Began in the 1860s • Centered in Paris around a loose collective of artists/friends • Term “impressionists” coined as an insult of the painter Claude Monet’s Impression – Sunrise (1872) • Argued that their paintings were just “impressions” or sketches, not real paintings • Impressionist style spread to music and literature as well as visual arts • Beginning of modern art? • Incredibly popular today • 6 of 10 most expensive paintings are Impressionist or Post-Impressionist painters
A Critic of the Impressionists • “Impression — I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it … and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.”
Background to the Impressionist Period • Impressionists were rebels • Napoleon III’s Academie des Beaux-Arts controlled the world of French painting (both content and style) • They wanted historical/religious themes, realistic depictions and portraits • Each year it held a salon • The rebellious painters were rejected each year • Eventually they were allowed to have their own salon (salon des refuses) in 1863 • Afterwards they were further rejected, so by 1873 they started their own “society”
Characteristics of Impressionist Art • Broad quick brush strokes (to capture the “essence” of the subject) • Emphasized overall “impression” of the scene rather than specific details • Examined the effect of light and color on a scene • Painted landscapes • Painted candid portraits and depictions of regular life • Emphasized spontaneity, bright color, and light
Characteristics of Impressionist Art • Mix wet paint together to create shadows, greys • Otherwise, very little mixing of colors (The blending is in the eye of the viewer) • Opaque surfaces to the painting • Paint at different times of day (including evening) • No harsh lines • Emphasize natural light • Naturalistic scenes of everyday life, people and landscapes
Characteristics of Impressionist Art • Impressionist style was not “brand new” • Just anti-establishment • NOTE: Impressionism was not a rebellion against photographic “realism”. Impressionists were inspired by photography • Wanted to capture intimate day-to-day moments in life • They explored what photography lacked (i.e. color) • Spiritual forefathers include: • Diego Velasquez • Peter Paul Rubens • J.M.W. Turner • Eugene Delacroix • Gustave Courbet
Camille Pissarro • “Father” of the impressionists • Rebelled against the Salons in France • Great supporter of younger artists like Cezanne, Gaugin and Seurat, even post-impressionists like Henri Matisse • Saw his painting as a continued expression of freedom vs. control of government, society • Hard to categorize his art into neat chronologies (early, middle, late)
Claude Monet • Perhaps the most famous impressionist painter • “pure” impressionist who moved the art style forward into the 1900s • Famous for painting the same scene at different times of day or seasons • Most famous for his “water lily” paintings
Pierre-August Renoir • Worked closely with Monet throughout the 1880s • Lots of paintings of modernized Paris • Scenes of middle-class leisure • Painted lots of nudes
EdouardManet • Never regarded himself as an impressionist • His early nudes shocked critics • “Who’s for lunch?” - about Luncheon in the Grass (1863) • His early paintings set the stage for Impressionism
