Impressionism

subtle

Table of Contents• Edgar Degas• Eugene Boudin• Claude Monet• Edouard Manet• Berthe Morisot• Camille Pissarro • Pierre Auguste Renoir• Alfred Sisley• Mary Cassatt• James Abbott McNeill Whistler

In General• a movement in painting that originated in France in the late 19th

century• French art critic Louis Leroy coined the term impressionist in a

satirical review of a private exhibition of paintings – Leroy argued that as soon as these artists had suggested an

impression of a subject by means of a few abrupt, shorthand brushstrokes, they were satisfied and stopped work.

• found many subjects in life around them rather than in history• tried to depict what they saw at a given moment, capturing a

fresh, original vision• often painted out of doors

– To observe nature more directly and set down its most fleeting aspects

Features• The appearance of spontaneity• Used broken brushstrokes of bright, often unmixed colors. • Which produced loose or densely textured surfaces rather

than the carefully blended colors and smooth surfaces favored by most artists of the time.

• The colors have an overall luminosity because the painters avoided blacks and earth colors.

• Simplified compositions, omitting detail to achieve a striking overall effect.

• Impressionists were united by a desire to gain independence from an annual government-sponsored exhibition in Paris called the Salon.

Édouard Manet

• 1832-83, French painter • Manet was influenced by Velázquez and Goya and

later by Japanese painters and printmakers and photography.

• he did not employ impressionism's typical broken color or sketchy brushstrokes.

• Manet worked in broad, flat areas, using almost no transitional tones, to show what the eye takes in at a glance.

With its bold brush strokes and realistic portrayal

of everyday events, Manet’s work served as a forerunner of the

impressionist

movement. Self-

portrait

Olympia based on a portrait by Renaissance master Titian.

Received severe criticism because of his unorthodox portrayals of nude subjects that were neither mythological nor biblical.

Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe

Rejected from the Salon in Paris

History from ManetZola, Emile (1840-1902) French writer and art critic; was introduced to Manet in February 1866. Three months later Zola wrote an enthusiastic essay in defense of Manet’s work (L’Evénement, May 1866). Manet painted this portrait as an expression of his thanks. In 1870-1903 Zola wrote and published his novel series about the Rougon-Macquart family, including Nana, in 1880. Nana was a character in Emile Zola’s novel.

Manet’s Mother above

Manet’s wife below

The Women in Manet’s Life

. Claude Monet Painting on His Studio Boat. 1874

The Execution of the Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. 1867-1868

fragment of "The Execution of

Maximilian"

Manet often illustrated scenes from

contemporary life in his paintings. With his

modern subject matter and spontaneous, brushy technique, he influenced

the development of

modern art. Argenteuil

Chanteur espagnol

One of his works that was accepted

by the Salon

The Balcony. 1868

The painting shows Berthe Morisot, next to

her is the violinist Fanny Claus, and

behind the women is the painter Antonin

Guillemet

Manet’s Legacy

Edgar Degas • French painter and sculptor 1834-1917 • He strove to unite the discipline of classical art with the

immediacy of impressionism • Degas chose to paint theater and ballet performances,

races, and café life, subjects that allowed him to capture movement in his off-center and oddly cropped compositions.

• He made notes and sketches from living models in motion to preserve informality of action and position

• Right before he went blind, he produced more freely executed, glowing pastels and charcoal drawings

He was precociously gifted as a draftsman and a brilliantly subtle and penetrating portraitist Bellelli Family, 1859

Woman with Chrysanthemumseffected a remarkable balance by giving special weight to the focus of interest

The Star 1876-77

Dancing Examination

ability to capture a

momentary pose

Eugène Boudin

• French painter • Boudin met Claude Monet and did much to help

the young painter find his true artistic self • In the 1860s he frequently saw Edouard Manet• His land- and seascapes of that period are filled

with a constantly changing iridescent light; his palette grows lighter and the brushstrokes assume the aspect of soft, blurred patches of color

• His pictures of the sea made him one of the precursors of the Impressionists.

Noted for the pervasive clarity and directness of

his outdoor scenes, Boudin excelled in

depicting nuances of light and atmosphere. He

painted from nature, influencing the

impressionists

Claude Monet • 1840-1926, French landscape painter • Monet lifelong objective: portraying the variations of light and

atmosphere brought on by changes of hour and season. • Monet learned from his friends, from the landscape itself, and

from the works of his older contemporaries Manet, Corot, and Courbet.

• Monet's representation of light was based on his knowledge of the laws of optics as well as his own observations of his subjects.

• He often showed natural color by breaking it down into its different components as a prism does.

• Eliminated black and gray from his palette

Monet

• In his later works Monet allowed his vision of light to dissolve the real structures of his subjects

• he chose simple matter • 1874 Sisley, Morisot, and Monet organized the

first impressionist group show, which was ferociously maligned by the critics – It failed financially

• In the last decade of his life Monet was nearly blind

Impression: Sunrise 1873

The White Water Lilies. 1899

The Rouen Cathedral. Portail. The Albaine Tower 1893-1894, The Rouen Cathedral at Noon (1894)

Beach Scene, Trouville 1863

Beach Scene, Trouville 1863

Woman with an Umbrella

Self-Portrait. 1886.

Berthe Morisot• French impressionist painter • She formed a close friendship with Manet, when she

married Manet’s brother Eugene• Her later work inclined toward pure impressionism in its

rendering of light • Unusual smoothness of brushwork • She painted in clear, luminous colors. • Her early subject matter included landscapes and marine

scenes• Later she most frequently painted tranquil portraits of

mothers and children.

The Mother and Sister

of the Artist (Reading). c.1869-70When asked to

criticize the work, Manet loved it but when Moriscot left he touched it up.

She was very upset

The Cradle

In the Grass. 1874

The Harbor at Lorient. 1869

Girl in a Boat with

Geese. c.1889

Camille Pissarro

• 1830-1903, French impressionist painter • Pissarro's warmth and generosity made him an

endearing figure. He was especially beloved as teacher and friend to Gauguin, Cézanne, and Cassatt

• In 1884 he experimented with theories of color called divisionism (dots)

• Abandoning divisionism in the 1890s, he reverted to a freer, more vital interpretation of nature

L'Hermitage a Pontoise. 1867

Vegetable Garden at the Hermitage, Pontoise (1879). The real subject matter here is light, and there is no black in the palette, exemplifying impressionist painting. The style also borders on pointillism with its small, even dabs of color. The effect of light brush strokes over dark gives it a shimmering quality.

Self-Portrait

The Red Roofs

Lucien Pissarro. The Deaf Woman's House. 1888

Lucien was a pupil of his father

Pierre Auguste Renoir

• 1841-1919, French impressionist painter and sculptor • His early work reflected myriad influences including those of Courbet, Manet, Corot,

Ingres and Delacroix• he developed the ability to paint joyous, shimmering color and flickering light in

outdoor scenes • He went beyond impressionism.

– His ecstatic sensuality, particularly in his opulent, generalized images of women, and

– his admiration of the Italian masters removed him from the primary impressionist concern: to imitate the effects of natural light.

• “harsh” period in which his forms were closely defined in outline • In the 1890s he changed, diffusing both light and outline, and with dazzling,

opalescent colors describing voluptuous nudes, radiant children, and lush summer landscapes.

• 1903, Renoir fought arthritis at the same time that his work attained its greatest sensual power and monumentality

Lise. 1867the Salon in 1867 accepted

Lise, portrait of his model and lover Lise Treho. She posed

in these others as well

The figure in this painting is bathed in light, and the artist’s

unique brushwork gives the figure a glowing

quality.Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary. 1878

Madame Charpentier and her Children

The SwingThe Family of the Artist. In the picture: standing - Pierre (11 years old), Aline (the wife); in the lower part – Jean (about 2 years old), governess; in the right part  - a neighbor’s girl

Moulin de la Galette

The Bathers (detail). 1887

Luncheon of the Boating Party

Dance at Bougival

Lady Sewing

In the know

Self- portrait Frédéric Bazille at His Easel. 1867

Alfred Sisley and His Wife. 1868.

Renoir’s World of Aquaintances

Portrait of Claude Monet. 1875

In 1880, Renoir met Aline Charigot, a common woman, whom he would marry in 1890, they had 3 sons: Pierre, Jean, Claude, called “Coco” Aline and Pierre. 1887

Alfred Sisley • 1839-99, French impressionist landscape

painter • painted subtly shimmering small-town

landscapes that reveal a wistful, lyrical sensibility

• Influenced by his friends Renoir and Monet in his selection of colors but closer to the Barbizon School tradition

• Sisley did not live to see his talent recognized

impressionist style, applying clear, bright colors in short, visible brushstrokes. Sisley's paintings are distinguished by their serenity and their focus on the effects of light and atmosphere. Moret-sur-Loing in Morning Sun. 1888.

Square in Argenteuil (rue de la Chaussée). 1872

Monet had moved in 1871 to the village of Argenteuil on the north bank of the Seine. Sisley often visited Monet

Moret-sur-Loing. 1891

Mary Cassatt

• (1844-1926), American painter • she typically portrayed family members and

friends in intimate, domestic settings– she used members of her own family as subjects

• she began to emphasize line rather than form or mass and experimented with asymmetric composition and informal, natural gestures and positions.

• loss of her sight in 1914, meant she was no longer able to paint.

Mrs. Cassatt Reading to Her Grandchildren

The Cup of TeaMary’s sister is the model

Sleepy Baby. c.

1910

Two Children at the Seashore

Summertime. c. 1894.

The Child's Caress.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler • An American• Whistler was dismissed from West Point for insufficient knowledge of

chemistry and from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, where he had learned etching and map engraving

• Whistler resorted to elaborate exhibits, lectures, polemics, and more than one lawsuit. – In Falling Rocket: Nocturne in Black and Gold (Detroit Inst. of Arts)

he sued Ruskin in 1878 for writing that Whistler asked “two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face.”

• Whistler explained that the harmonious arrangement of light, form, and color was the most significant element of his paintings.

• To de-emphasize their subjective content, he called them by fanciful, abstract titles such as Nocturne in Black and Gold, and Arrangement in Gray and Black

Arrangement in Black and Grey No. 1: The Artist’s

Mother used monochromatic

colors, like Degasthe two-dimensional format of the composition recalls

the similar flattened style of Claude Monet.

Symphony in White No. 1: The White

Girl. 1862.

His brushy impressionistic technique is evident in

Valparaiso Harbor

The End