Impressionism: Newspaper of the Soul

Bangxin Hu

A Glimpse to the Past

“Painting is nothing but a representation of surface and solids… put on a plane of picture… as real objects seen by the eye appear on this plane”

Piero Della Francesca

“The Arnolfini Marriage”, 1434, National Gallery, London

1863: Salon of the Refused

• “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.”

“Impression, Sunrise”, 1872, Musee Martottan Monet

Monet: Genius of Light

“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at any moment.”

Claude Monet

“Monet is only an eye but, my God, what an eye! ”

Paul Cezanne

Woman with a Parasol, 1875, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

La Gare Saint-Lazare, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Camille Monet on her deathbed, 1875, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Renoir: Triumph of Life

“To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.”

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

“I have a predilection for painting that lends joyousness to a wall.”

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880–1881, Phillips Collection, Washington DC

Nude in the Sun, 1875, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Bathers, 1918, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia

Seurat: Divide and Reassemble

“I painted like that because I wanted to get through to something new – a kind of painting that was my own.”

George Seurat

“Some say they see poetry in my paintings; I see only science.”

George Seurat

“Painting is the art of hollowing a surface.”

George Seurat

The Channel at Graveline, 1884–1885, MOMA

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884–1885, Art Institute of Chicago

Gauguin: An Odyssey of Faith

“Civilization is what makes you sick.”

Paul Gauguin

“Don't copy nature too much. Art is an abstraction; derive this abstraction from nature while dreaming before it, but think more of creating than of actual result. The only way to rise towards God is by doing as our Divine master does, create....”

Paul Gauguin

“Art is.”

Paul Gauguin

Still Life with Three Puppies, 1888, MOMA

Vision After the Sermon, 1888, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburg

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?, 1897, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Van Gogh: War of Redemption

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”

Vincent Van Gogh

“A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke.”

Vincent Van Gogh

“As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed.”

Vincent Van Gogh

Sun Flowers, 1888, National Gallery, London

Starry Night, 1889, MOMA

Wheatfield with Crows, 1890, Van Gogh Museum

Cezanne: Connecting the Past and the Present

“Cezanne is the mother of us all.”

Pablo Picasso

“Cezanne is the father of us all.”

Hentri Matisse

“An art which isn't based on feeling isn't an art at all... feeling is the principle, the beginning and the end; craft, objective, technique - all these are in the middle.”

Paul Cezanne

Still Life with Plaster Cast, 1895, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London

“Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul.”

Henri Matisse