CHapter 28, Impressionism and Post - Impressionism, and symbolism

Salons

Art exhibitinos sponsered by established French art schools, that exerted tight conotrl over the art scene. Salons were highly compettetive - they focused on traditional subjects and highly polished techniques. Modernist art presented challenegs to these established schools and the jureis routinely rejected art of more edventurous artsits. Eventualy, such rejecct would lead impresionists such as Claude MOnet to form their own society, esetnialy a painter's union, giving the impressionists more freedom.

understanding impressionism

Barbizon School landscape painting (direct observation, moods) preceeded impressionism after revolution land opens up and inns and such are cheap so artists ewnt out and captured these scens and the light effects, then they went back to their studios in the city and they made finished paintings form their studies and memories impressionists had a goal of taking their panels outside and painting them there. they wanted to get as much of the ephemeral on canvas as they could, they used much differnt pallete from Barbizon painters Realism (observation of modern life Role of photography (aide memoire, free artist from illusionistic practices)Paris and beyond (suburban retreats), seaside (nature and modernity

Villa at the Seaside

Berthe Morisot 1874 oil on canvas Impressionism ONe of the most sucessful female impressionists, Morisot, depicts the SUBJECT MATTER of lesuire activites of Parisans, this represents the interst of many impressionists. however she depicts almost exclusively female figures with children, always well dressed ad thoughtful, never objects of male desire. Content: Two women depicted in a boat on a lake. FOCUS is on the women, not the setting. Morisot is unseen in the same baot, the woen are represented at a sharp angle with parts of thier bodies and most of the boat cut off by the frame (a composition started by Degas). Style: Morisot rejects contour line in favor of patches of color that define figure shapes. Sketchy brushtrokes used to paint the women merge with the water, unifying figure and ground. Plen air, fresh, bright summer day

Impressionism: how did it come about

Between 1800 and 1900, population of europes major cities exploded, in paris for example th enumber of residents expaned dramaticlaly, it was there around 1870 that Impressionism was born this was an asthetic by-product of the sometimes brutal and chaotic transformaiton of French life. Impressionist paintings represent an attempt ot cpature a fleeting moment that is not fixed or precise like realism, but rather it conveys an elusiveness nad impermanence of images and conditinos

Sainte-Lazare Station

Claude Monet 1877 Style: Impressionism contemporary subject Oil on Canvas Impressionists often painted scenes of new urbanized Paris, the heart of modern life in France. Monet's agitated application of paint contributes to sense of energy in this terminal. Impressionist paintings are unintelligible at close range, but the eye fuses the brushstrokes at a distance no attempt to disguise brush strokes or blend pigments to create smooth tonal gradation like traditional painters this concern for acknowledging the paint and the canvas surface continued the modernist exploration that realists began

The Rehearsal

Edgar Degas, 1874, Oil on Canvas Impressionism Ballet, a favorite subject of Edgar Degas. Degas was not primarily concerned with light an atmosphere, unlike Monet, rather he specialised in indoor subjects. He mad emany preliminary studies for his finished paintings. He was intersted in recording body movement and unusal angels of viewing . Facinated by formalize dpattersn of omtion of classical ballaet performed at Paris Opera. In this painting, Degas records the unstable postures of ballerinas. Most dancers are hidden from viewer by figures or spiral stairway at left. COmposition: opposite of classically balanced composition. Center is empty, floor takes up most of cnavas surface, at margins degas aranged tthe ballerinas and their teachers in seemingly random manner. CUT OFF FIGURES AT LEFT AND RIGHT ENHANCES SENSE THAT THE VIEWER IS WITNESING A FLEETING MOMENT, SOMETHIN FOUND IN MANY IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS. implied position of viewer is elvated (high viewpoint), looking down at floor and foreground figures as opposed to hea don views of statuesque figures that were normal in traditinonla paining. off-center placement of figures

The Tub

Edgar Degas, 1886, impressionism, pastel Revelas influence of Japanese prints, especailly the sharp angles. Inspired by a Japanese woodblock print. In Dega's picture, a young woman crouches in a tub as she washes her neck with a sponge, unaware of the viewer's presence. The angle of vision is so sharp that hte floor and tabletop seem to be vertical surfaces parallel to the picture plane. combination of the fully modeled figure of the bather and the flatnes of the tub an dshelf creates visual perplexity fully consistend with modernist exploraiton of the tension between illusionism and acknolwedging that painting is two dimensional.

synthetism

Gauguin's style employing bright, non-naturalistic colors, flat shapes and bold black outlines; synthesized the observation of the subject in nature with the artist's feelings about that subject in an abstracted application of line, shape, space and color Gauguin's theory of art, which advocated the use of broad areas of unnatural color and primitive or symbolic subject matter. convergence of reality and imagination

Vision after the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)

Gauguin, 1888, Oil on Canvas, Post impressionism Cloissonne style: compartmentalized shapes, flat areas of color, emphasis on outline, contour subject from experience livin gin Brittany Although Britainny had been transformed into a profitbale marker economy focused on tourism Gauguin viewed Bretons (Natives of brittany) as natural men and women Content: Painting shows Breton women, wearing starched white sunday caps and black dresses, visualising the sermon they just heard in church about Jacob's encounter with holy spirit. Joining the women at far right is a tonsured (dhaved hair) monk who has Gauguin's features, the monk and women pray devoutly before the apparition . Gauguin departed from optical realism and composed picture lemtns to focus on the idea and intesnify the message. The artist stwisted th eperspective and alloed most of the space ot empahsize the innocent faith of the women. A diagonally pplaced tree trunk separates women form Jacob wrestling the angel (wrestling matches were regular after High mass Instead of unifying picture with horizon perspective, light and shade, naturulasitc use of oclor, he abstracted ht escene into a pattern with tree symbolliclay dividng the spirtual form the earthly pure unmodulated color fills flat planes and shapes bounded by firm line

Pointillism/Divisionism

Georges Seurat's color system (post-impressionism) the application of pure color in small dots, allowing the eye to mix (such as red and blue dots side by side, which the eye sees as violet)

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte

Georges Seurat, 1884-1886, Oil on canvas, Neo-impressinoism (divisionism) Seurat depicted modern life in a strictly intellectual way, unlike impressionists. He had a painstaing system of painting focused on color analysis. He disciplinedthe free and dluent play of color charactrizing impressionism into a calculated arrangement based on color theory. His system "Divisionism" but is better known as "pointillism", involvees carefuly observing color and separating it into its component parts. The artist then applies these pure component colors ot the canvas in tiny dots. As a result, shapes nad figures become comprehensible only from a distance, when viewers eyes blend the dots together. Context: La Grande Jatte is an islanmd in the Seine RIver near ASnieres, one of late 19th century paris''srapidly growing industrial suburbs. SETTING for a typiclaly impresionist theme, populate by modern peopel from diferent classes wearing different clothes. (slevles worker in left foreground, next to middle class couple, women with monkey on leash is likely a prosittue) shows differen parts of parisan society meeting up. Seurat's pointillism produced a carefully composed and painted image which is of sharp contrast to impressionist sketches. He incooporates repeated motifs such as similary dressed women and identical parasols whcih creates a rhythmic movement. painted frame Huge canvas is salon style Precise, tightly controlled neo impressionism, divisionism

Paris: A rainy Day

Gustave Caillebotte, 1877, Oil on Canvas, Impressionism IMpressionists, like realists before them, rejected religious, historical, and mythological themes favored by academic painters, they instead focused on modern life in and around Paris. Brushwork in this painting bears little resemblance to style of other impressionists such as monet an dmanet but the subject illustrates impressionist modernity Setting: junction of new boulevard resulting from redesgining of paris begining in 1852 (ordered by Napolean 111 to help reduce overcrowsding) these wide open boulevards were a new major component of rebuilding naad restablishign paris. This helepd trnaform paris in to present day city composition: strongly assymetrical and in violation of academic norms of design (large empty space at lower left) Figures are cut of fby frame showing that the peopel are moving, this is a transitory m oment in time figures: well dressed Parisans of leisure class, (only such could afford to live in the elegant new neighborhoods) Despite stylisitic sharp focus, this painting is the artists impression of modern life, citezens felt that hte new paris was impersonal and Calliebotte incooperated this disatisied pov in his painting by depicting a sad rainy day, with peopel dresed pretty much the same with identical umbrellas.

At the Moulin Rouge

Henry De Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892-95, Oil on canvas, post-impressionism Reveals influence of Degas, Japanese prints, and photography through the oblique (aslanting) and asymmetrical composition, the spatial diagonals, and the strong line patterns with added dissonant (lacking harmony) colors. Based on first hadn obsercation, familar scenes to impressionists, but he emphasized and exxagerated elements thus creating a new tone. Compared to Dance at Le MOulin De La Galette which has a more relaxed mood and casual atmosphere: Tolouse- Lautrec's scene is decadent nightlife with ccorrupt, cruel, and masklike faces. This distoriton tohugh simplification of th efigures and faces anticipated expressionism (when artists use of formal elemnts, fro example brighter colros adn bolder lines increased immage effect on viewers.

Symbolism

Impresionists and POst impressions believed that emotions and sensaitons were important elements for interpreitng the workd around them, but they continued to focus on what htey could see, such as people, buildings, boulevards, lanscapes, still lifes. However, many artists turned their attention away from real worl to imaginary. These artists ought to express their indivdual spirit and rejected the optical world of daily life in favor of fantasy they conjured forms in thier free imagination. Color, line, and shapebecame symbol sof personal emotions in repsonse ot the world. In symbolism (european omvemnet) painters or writers disdained realism as trivial. Their task was to explore the dark of irraitonal imagery of hte human psyche.

Nocturne in Black and Gold (The Falling Rocket)

James Whistler, 1875, OIl on Panel, Impresionism Emergin gmodernist idea that paintigns are independent two- dimensional artiworks and not windows opening onto the three dimensional world is underscored by Whistler's naming of his paintinfs not according to the depicted subjects but in abstract terms. For example, the name of this piece doesn;t specify what it is, and instead describes it in abstract terms content: a daring painting of an exploded firework with gold flecks and spatters in the night sky. Whistler was more interested in conveying the atmospheric effects than in providing details of the scene. he emphasized creating a harmonious arrangemetn of shapes and colors it is a representation rather than a view of the fireworks at a garden in London (it got scathign reviews from critics) composition: abrstact arangmetn of shapes and colors (chaotic but gloriosu harmony)

Describe Japanese influence on Impressionist painting.

Japonisme is the influence that Japanese wood blocking had on Impressionism. The Impressionists liked the way Japanese woodblock artists used space, flat areas of color that weren't constantly changing, asymmetrical composition, and daily life scenes.

Modernism

Modernism in arttrancends the simple depiction of the cpontemporary world, th egoal of realism. MOdernists also critically examine the premisses of art itself. it is a collection of movement s ??ask for help

Industrialization

Momentus development sof the early 19th century in europe (urbanization, industrialization, and increased economic and poictical interaction worldwide matured during latter hald of century. (second indsutrial revolution) focused on steel, elctricity, chemicals, and oil. expanding industrialization was closely tied to rapid urbanization, number and size of european cities grew dramatically due to migration form countryside

new understandings of color

Monet and other painters concluded that local color (an objects color in white light) becomes modified by the quality of the light shining on it, by reflections of other objects, and by the effects that juxtaposode colors produce. Shadows do not appear gray or black but instead appear to be composed of colors modified by reflections or other ocnditions. If artist suse complementary colors isde by side over large enough areas, the colors intesify eahc other unlike blending small quanities of adjorning mixed pigments which produce neutral tones. THe "mixing of colors by juxtaposing them directly on a white canvas without any preliminary skethc, produces a more inesne hue thatn the same colors mixed on the palette.

Mont Sainte-Victoire

PAUL CEZANNE, 1902-1904, oil on canvas (post-impressionism) He had a distinctive way of studying nature. His aim was not truth in appearance, rather he sought a lasting structure behind the formless and fleetin gvisual information. INstead of employing impressionists random approach he developed a more analytical style. His goal was to order the lines, planse, and colors of nature. He would constantly check the paintnig agianst part of the scene . He recorded color patterns deduced form an opticla anlaysis od nature. He studied the capactiy of line na dplanes to create depth and the power of colors ot modify the direction and depth of these lines and planes. TO create the illusion of three dimensional fomr and space, Cezanne focues on carefuly selecting colors. He applied small patches fo rcolors of which some tended ot reced and some adavance which created volume and epth. Perspective: main space stretches out behind na dbeyond canvas plane, small elements such as roads, fields, houses are included at slightly differen tviewpoints. THis creates a shifting an drecedin gperspective that differs from renaisance perspective. the mountian seems near and far at the same time. HIs approach approximates the exerience of a person viewing fors of nature from multiple viewpoint

Post - Impressionism

Post-Impressionism is a term used to describe the reaction in the 1880s against Impressionism. It was led by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. The Post-Impressionists rejected Impressionism's concern with the spontaneous and naturalistic rendering of light and color. the artists continued using vivid colors, a thick application of paint and real-life subject matter, but were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, distort forms for an expressive effect and use unnatural and seemingly random colors. Post- impressionism is an umbrella term for diverse modern styles of art datng after 1880: symbolism, cloisonism, neo-impressionism, fauvism, expressinism and therfore defines: Avant-garde movements concerned with how the leements of art and pictorial structure may independently express feeling (aesthetic, spiritual) and philosophies subjects are drawn from a range of personal and artistic influences, both traditional and non-western

Sacred Grove

Puvis de Chavannes 1884, oil on canvas, symbolism SYmbolists revered Puvis de Chavannes for his rejection of realism. His statuesque figures in timelsess poses inhabit a tranquil landscape, their calm and stillgestures suggesitng a symbolic ritual significance. Greco-roman shrine. Suspended in timeless poses are figures wiht simple and sharp contours, their modeling is as shallow as classicla sculpture. he rejected the realism and impressionist focus on eerday world and incooporated classiclaimagery.

Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette

Renoir, 1876, Impressionism New paris featured dramatic increase in venues for dining and dancing, cafe-concerts, opera, ballet, (became mainstays of impressionism) This is an example of an impressionist canvaas portraying ordinary parisans at leisure on Sunday afternoon at an open-air dance club. Renoir painted without rules nad methods, he wanted art to be indescribable and inimatble (very impressionist ideas) Ordinary, woriking class depicted in popular Parisan danc ehall, lively atmosphere with people dancing and chatting. This site was a gathering place for friends sites of violence during franco prussian war, so the joy of celebration is shown in many paintings after the war, these sites were previously sites of extreme political tension harmony between genders, flirtation, gaiety, scene: dappled with sunlight and shade, artfully blured into figures to produce effect of floating and dleeting light (of many impressionst) casual poses and assymetrical palcement suggestied contunity of space, spreading in all directions, this positions the viewer as a participant, we are invited to be participants in joy of lifelinked to fete galante subject from rococo, playful eroticism, mingling of life while art favored by the french academy sough to express timeless universal qualities, impressionsits attempted the opposite, the incidental, momentary, and passing aspects of reality.

Night Cafe

Van Gogh, 1888, oil on canvas, post impressionism Benign SUBJECT MATTTER: Night cafe, imbued with charged energy, He wanted the painting to convey an oppressive atmosphere. The room is seen from above and the floor takes up a large portion of the canvas as common in impressionists like degas. the ghostlike proporiator stands at the edge of the pool table, disenagegd from surroundings like others pool tbale is depicted at steep tilted perspective which makes it look like its going to slide into the viewers space madness is communicated through the selection of vivid hues that contrast with each other thus elvating the intensity Van gogh had an indivdual expresicness with vlaues of color but also with paint application. The thickness, shape, and direction of brushstrokes create an interesting tecture to go with his intense colro scheme. Colors and textures are symbolic and expressive analogous anc complementary colors two croped (like in Japanese art) empty chairs maybe represents his hope ofr the arrival of Gauguin (personal symbolism)

Starry Night

Van Gogh, 1889, Oil on Canvas, Post-Impressionism illustrates van gogh's "expressionist" method. Painted a year before his death. At this time, van gogh was licing in an sylum where he had committed himself becaus ehe suffered from epilepsy Van gogh does not represent the sky's appearance but rather he communicated his feelings baout the electrifyin gvastness of the unvivers by filling the night sky wiht stars that whirl and explode aboce a church. View from his room likley correspond sto the painting. Van Gogh used color to expres himself so the deep blue likely suggests a depression combined iwth turbulent brush strokes. elements: color = complementary, expresive, symbolic light= nocturnal, spiritual, imaginary line = outline, ryhtmic, moving composition= balanced, asymetrical organization of dark dominant silhouettes of symbolic cypress tree, mountains, glowing orbs, energy of swirling, dancing shapes and staccato lines Expresionistic is word used to describe his style : he was interested in how differen tcolros together create emotions

impressionism

originally a derogatory term, a term orignally used in refernece to sktches, impressionist paintings incoporate the qualities of skethces suhc a sabbreviation, speed, and spontaneity, but the artists considered their skethclike works to be finished paintings, whihc was a radically modernist idea at the time eurpe, late 1860s-1880s, UK, IRELAND< AUSTRIALIA, and NORHT AMERICS, late 19th c to 1915 Subjects: from contemporary life: Urban, suburban and rural landscape, social spaces (concerts, cafes, performances) still life visual form": representational, plein air, observation of visual phenomenon, transient effects of light and atmosphere, varied and broken brushwork artists would paint plein air and would both begin and finish paintings outdoors. this process sharpened painters such as Monet, focus on the roles that light and color play in the way nature appears to the eye impressionists combine optical and subjective, they acknolwedge how objects and nature observed by the human eye can be captured by pigment(thick impasto or thinly applied) according to time of day, year, interior mood etc use of lightly tinted primer to prepare canvas instead of a sepia tone or osmething else which results in illuminosity and a matte finish rejection f chiaroscuro, MORE EVIDENCE OF THE HAND, the variety of brushtrokes, no attempt to create an illusion of absolute reality common interest in recording modern life tied impressiniosts together than shared style and technique

plein air

painting in the outdoors to directly capture the effects of light and atmosphere on a given object painters were also encourgaed to paint outside because of the introduction of premixed pigments coniently sold in portable tubes

marxism and darwinism

rise of urban working class was fundamentla rto ideas of karl marx. Marx wrote "The Communist Manefesto (1848)" which called for the working class t overthrow the cpaitalist system. Marx advocated for the creation of a socialist state in which working clas siezed power and deystroyed capitalism. Darwin was an English naturalist who postulated the theory of natural selection, he helped propose a rational model for the process of evolution, rather than attributing it to chance.