Chapter 28
en plein air
an approach to painting very popular among the impressionists, in which an artist sketches outdoors to achieve a quick impression of light, air, and color. The artist then takes the sketches to the studio for reworking into more finished works of art
passage
blending of overlapping planes into one another
Vincent van Gogh. "The Starry Night." Post-Impressionism, 1890. [1889. oil on canvas, 28 ¾ x 36 ¼"]
expressive use of brushstrokes -contrast between blue and yellow -echoes steeple of church with tree (indicates spirituality in nature) -communicated his feelings about the electrifying vastness of the universe, filled with whirling and exploding stars -work corresponds in some ways to the actual view he saw from his room
Japonisme
French fascination with all things Japanese
Georges Seurat. "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." Post-Impressionism (pointillism/divisionism), 1890. [1884-86. oil on canvas. 6'9 ½" x 10'1 ¼"]
-"optical painting" -simultaneous contrast -optical mixture -devised a disciplined and painstaking system of painting focused on color analysis; organized new kind of pictorial order; pointillism -rigid and remote; unlike the spontaneous representations; carefully composed -rhythmic movement in depth as well as side-to-side -reveals tenuous and shifting social and class relationships
Vincent van Gogh. "The Night Café." Post-Impressionism, 1890. [1888. oil on canvas, 2' 4" x 3']
-(pre-) symbolism: Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch -color is "true" to emotion not true to nature; used color to invoke subjectivity and emotion -expressiveness of brushstrokes: almost ritualistically repetitive -used a personal subject system (symbolism) -oppressive atmosphere
Paul Gauguin. "The Vision after the Sermon." Post-Impressionism, 1890. [1888. oil on canvas, 2' 4 ¾" x 3' ½"]
-1883 resigns from brokerage business to devote life to painting -1886 moves to Brittany, seeking provincial society "uncontaminated" by urban-modern Parisian life -primitivism- looking to any culture perceived as being outside of the west -figures are drawn relatively naturalistically -large, flat, red space -tree and cow give sense of nature and pastoral area Subjective expression; believed color above all must be expressive -rejected both realism and impressionism -departed from optical realism and composed picture elements to focus the viewer's attention on the idea and intensify its message
Paul Gauguin. "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" Post-Impressionism (primitivism), 1900. [1897. oil on canvas, 4' 6" x 12' 3"]
-Gauguin abandoned wife and children to go to Tahiti because he thought it was more primitive -primitivism -a lot is imaginary/made up -tropical flora of the island inspired the colors he chose for the painting -presented pessimistic view of the inevitability of the life cycle
Edgar Degas. "The Rehearsal." Impressionism, 1875. [1874. oil on canvas, 23" x 33"]
-asymmetrical cropping -lower class women (at the time, showing legs was improper); same status as prostitutes -not a classically balanced composition -large, off center, empty spaces creates illusion of a continuous floor connecting the observer with the pictured figures
Paul Cézanne. "Mont Sainte-Victoire." Post-Impressionism, 1900 [c. 1902-4. oil on canvas, 2' 3 ½" x 2' 11 ¼"]
-commitment to plein air painting -he solidified impressionism (which he believed lacked form and structure) -atmospheric perspective -analytical style; goal was to order the lines, planes, and colors comprising nature -sought to achieve distance, depth, structure, and solidity with the color patterns he deduced from an optical analysis of nature; juxtaposing contrasting colors -mountain has effect of being simultaneously near and far away -passage- blending of overlapping planes into one another
Edouard Manet. "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère." Impressionism, 1875. [1882. oil on canvas, 3' 1" x 4'3"]
-depicted Parisian nightlife -barmaid is centrally placed but seems disinterested or lost in thought, divorced from her patrons as well as from the viewer -blurred and roughly applied brushstrokes, particularly those in the background -optical discrepancies call attention to the pictorial structure of his painting
Claude Monet. "Saint-Lazare Train Station." Impressionism, 1875. [1877. oil on canvas, 2' 5" x 3' 5"]
-depicts a dominant aspect of the contemporary urban scene - captured energy and vitality of Paris's modern transportation hub -agitated paint application contributes to sense of energy and conveys atmosphere of urban life
Gustave Caillebotte. "Paris: A Rainy Day." Impressionism, 1875. [1877. oil on canvas, 6' 9" x 9' 9"]
-focused on markers of the city's rapid urbanization -did not use Monet's impressionistic brushstrokes -informal and asymmetrical composition -figures randomly placed, frame cropping them arbitrarily, suggesting transitory nature of street scene -despite the sharp focus, picture captures the artist's "impression" of urban life
Impressionism:
-rapid recording of observed scenes -focus on optical experience -plein air technique -unusual cropping, often informal or asymmetrical
James Abbott McNeill Whistler. "Nocturne in Black and Gold (The Falling Rocket)." Impressionism, 1875. [ca. 1875. oil on panel, 1' 11" x 1' 6 ½"]
-rough brush strokes -critiqued for showing the viewer only "flung paint" -arrangement of color, pattern, shape, etc. that doesn't need to be optically accurate -created a harmony paralleling those achieved in music -more interested in conveying atmospheric effects of fireworks at night -emphasized abstract arrangement of shapes and colors
Claude Monet. "Impression: Sunrise." Impressionism, 1875. [1872, oil on canvas, 1' 7 ½" x 2' 1"]
-short, thick brushstrokes -study of color theory -captures fleetingness of world -critiques said that they didn't like the painting due to its unfinished quality -group of artists who exhibited together from 1874 to 11886, independently of the Salon -"universal" technique: entire canvas treated the same, evident unblended brush strokes of juxtaposed -rapid recording of observed scenes -focus on optical experience -plein air technique -operated at intersection of what artists saw and what they felt
Paul Cézanne. "The Basket of Apples." Post-Impressionism, 1900. [ca. 1895. oil on canvas, 24 3/8 x 31"]
-stiff, bold lines -table lines do not line up -bottle is not symmetrical -Passage: creation of spatial ambiguities (foreground vs. background; between objects) through integrated or fused forms and planes or overlapping brushwork -intentionally making things ambiguous -calls attention to the constructed nature and traditions (naturalistic qualities) of painting -gives more solid grounding to the impressionist by placing greater emphasis on forms -changes art moving forward
Post-Impressionism:
-three categories, but all tied together with a common criticism of impressionism: it had lost structure and meaning -post-impressionists wanted to return to traditional elements (composition, line, volume, color theory)...but in new form 1. pointillism/divisionism/neo impressionism: Georges Seurat 2 Paul Cezanne 3. Pre-symbolism: Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch
Mary Cassatt. "The Bath." Impressionism, 1900. [ca. 1892. oil on canvas, 3' 3" x 2' 2"]
-unable to go out and paint the same scenes that men could -looks as if viewer is looking down on scene -smooth brush strokes -combination of objectivity and genuine sentiment -visual solidity of the mother and child contrasts with the flattened patterning of the wallpaper and rug
Claude Monet. "Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (in Sun)." Impressionism, 1900. [1894. oil on canvas, 3' 3 1/4" x 2' 1 7/8"]
-unusual cropping and asymmetry -brush strokes revealed -emphasizes fleetingness of modern life -intesnive study of light and color
Pierre-Auguste Renoir. "Le Moulin de la Galette." Impressionism, 1875. [1876. oil on canvas, 4'3" x 5'8"]
-usual cropping and treatment of light gives fleeting impression -informal scene -rough, unblended brush strokes -ample time for leisure activities was another facet of new Paris; lively atmosphere -painted en plein air -viewer positioned as a participant rather than as an outsider
primitivism
incorporation of stylistic elements from the artifacts of Africa, Oceania, and the native peoples of the Americas
