Impressionism Exam #1
Sisley: "The Church at Moret, Evening" This was one of a series of works by this artist based on the same subject but handled at different times of day/times of year/weather conditions. Discuss this work in terms of lighting, atmosphere, surface treatment and intention of the artist. Be able to compare to Monet's Rouen Cathedral, Sunset.
- Based on the second floor of a house by Place de Moret, Sisley projected his visual impressions directly onto the canvas. -The clear, bold colours applied in small strokes capture the fleeting effects of the evening light. -The horizon line placed at the bottom leaves a wide surface area for the sky, which is azure blue with a pearly pink cloud. -follows trend of impressionist artists of putting content secondary to light; focuses on capturing the fleeting/changing effects of light
What does Il faut être de sont temps mean and why is it important to the French avant-garde artists of the 1860s and 1870s?
- first pronounced by caricaturist Honoré Daumier and then promulgated by Édouard Manet, "il faut être de son temps"—roughly, let's say, the command that "you must be of your time." -one must be of one's own time and paint what he sees; gave way to landscape painters and the French avant-garde artists who painted a moment in time (not just a portrait or a history painting)
What is the importance of Giverny to Monet's later paintings?
-"besides paintings and gardening I'm good for nothing" -
What does "les fauves" mean and what were their interests (color and brushwork or line and limited color)?
-"les fauves"—literally "the wild beasts", the term was coined by art critic Louis Vauxcelles when viewing their works at the Salon d'Automne exhibit of 1905 to mock their wild color and call attention to the contrast between their works; emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism
Some artists create works in series, painting the same subject over and over again at different times of day, times of year, and in varying weather conditions. How does this relate to the intentions of Impressionist principals?
-looking at light and atmosphere -changing light on objects
What changes did Haussmann's plan have on Paris and how did this affect Impressionist subject matter and techniques?
-Emperor Napoleon III had encouraged his Georges Haussmann, to carry out a modernization program as part of the rapid French industrialization -Paris was Europe's leading centre of artistic creation in the nineteenth century, if not of the world. It was also the capital of the European art market, a place where taste and wealth came together -Paris' city plan did not exist before Haussmann's modernization -impressionist artists used Paris as source of inspiration for a lot of art-- showed that modern life is constantly changing and captures fleeting movements -boulevards converging -Caillebote and Monet drew inspiration from modern Paris -movement captured in art; movement of a fast city -public projects in infrastructure--> more leisure, more commercial spaces, better roads, development of railroad, bigger population, more tourism--> transforms city into a city of elegance -urban life of cafes, leisure, restaurants, open spaces, air and lights, public gardens
What is meant by "lack of finish" and how does it apply to the anti-academic painting techniques of the Impressionists?
-Impressionists do not blend out their paint; instead, they let the brushwork show -they also keep adding layers to the painting without ever putting the finishing layer
How did the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 impact the art of Pissarro and Monet?
-Like Pissarro, Monet lived in London from 1870-71 during the Franco-Prussian war. Upon his return to France, Monet made many trips to the coasts and rural areas to study the effects of light and color -Monet and Pissarro both went to see the work of British landscape artists John Constable and J. M. W. Turner, which confirmed their belief that their style of open air painting gave the truest depiction of light and atmosphere, an effect that couldn't be achieved in the studio alone.
Morisot: "Summer's Day" Point to five ways this is an example of the art of the Impressionist movement. How does it reject the traditional Claudian formula?
-quick brushwork -shows a moment in time; snapshot -landscape -landscape painting outdoors, not in a studio; one must be of one's own time and paint what he sees -Claudian formula: approachable foreground, usually summertime, mid-afternoon, ideal times, mythological or religious (Biblical) subjects, large-scale, subject meant something
Many of the Impressionists hit a pictorial "crisis" in the mid-1880s and the group begins to disintegrate with their last exhibition together in 1886. Monet and Renoir deal with this crisis in different ways. What are their solutions?
-Monet's artistic approach evolved from pictorial objectivity to subjectivity; he increasingly called attention to his personal vision of reality, to suggest to the viewer that there was no knowable reality, that the appearance of reality depended both on exterior circumstances and on the viewer's perception -Renoir went back to traditions; classical seated female nude of "Eurydice"; became less interested in painting reality
Monet: "The Artist's Garden at Vethteuil" Twenty-five years separate this work from Monet's Water Lilies. What changes have taken place in approach to composition and painting technique. Be able to compare to Monet's Water Lilies.
-Monet's comparatively tight, confident brushwork in this painting—particularly in the handling of the sky and cloud -Over time, the artist became less and less concerned with conventional pictorial space. -got rid of horizon line -spatially ambiguous canvas -shifting viewpoint, face down -no framing unlike traditional paintings -more expansive, thicker brushwork -not window on the world like before -first idea of all encompassing environmental art -all right there, no lead in -sweeps of color, many layers
What was the source of the name Impressionism—give specifics?
-Monet, Renoir, 30+ more artists boycotted the salon and declared independence from the Academy because they believed content was secondary to light and brushwork; they also did not believe in a jury grading the work -word impressionism came from a negative critique of Monet's "Impressionism: Sunrise" during the exhibition of rejected art -impressionism is capturing an image in time -doesn't have to be centered or framed; spacial ambiguity; cropping -no preliminary sketches or lines
Pissarro: "A Cowherd on the Route du Chou, Pontoise" Point to five ways this is an example of the art of the Impressionist movement. How does it reject the traditional Claudian formula?
-Pissarro's adaptation of looser touch -broken brushstrokes -lighter color palette -landscape painting outdoors, not in a studio; one must be of one's own time and paint what he sees -Claudian formula: approachable foreground, usually summertime, mid-afternoon, ideal times, mythological or religious (Biblical) subjects, large-scale, subject meant something -Instead, Pissarro paints the landscape because be merely like agrarian themes and the work is presented as a fellow villager admiring agrarian society -Pissarro depicts local farmers, not mythological subjects
Which Post-Impressionist artists influenced Fauvism?
Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and Paul Cézanne
What is the importance of Paul Durand-Ruel to the Impressionist artists?
-The most famous member of a family of Parisian fine art dealers, Durand-Ruel was the first regular buyer of Impressionist paintings. -During the period 1890-1910, Durand-Ruel was the best known art dealer of French Impressionism in the world. He succeeded in establishing a market for it in America as well as Europe -During the period 1876-1886, there were few improvements. Paul Durand-Ruel remained almost the only art professional to support the Impressionist group. Despite immense financial difficulties, he continued to buy their paintings and promote their art.
Renoir: "Luncheon of the Boating Party" What is being depicted in this painting? In what ways is it a "modern" painting? Point to composition, painting technique and subject matter (including the types of people being depicted).
-The painting captures an idyllic atmosphere as Renoir's friends share food, wine, and conversation on a balcony overlooking the Seine at the Maison Fournaise restaurant in Chatou. Parisians flocked to the Maison Fournaise to rent rowing skiffs, eat a good meal, or stay the night. -shows leisure and entertainment -richness in form
Manet: "A Bar at the Folies-Bergere" How does this later work by the artist reveal the Impressionist technique in terms of lighting, subject matter and treatment, and surface treatment? Be able to compare to Manet's Olympia.
-The painting is the culmination of his interest in scenes of urban leisure and spectacle, a subject that he had developed in dialogue with Impressionism over the previous decade -subject is equally the bar and barmaid -interior lighting; illuminated artificial light -figure is a compositional device - By depicting one of these women and her male customer on an imposing scale, Manet brazenly introduced a morally suspect, contemporary subject into the realm of high art -use of strong colors -applying paint in small strokes of pure color -artist captures the image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it -no harsh lighting like Olympia
Monet: "The Stacks at Giverny" How did the artist's approach to their works in series influence the way they were displayed in galleries? Were they viewed as individual or collective works, or both?
-The series is famous for the way in which Monet repeated the same subject to show the differing light and atmosphere at different times of day, across the seasons and in many types of weather. -all done independently but he considered them a group -subject secondary to light and optical effect
Renoir: "Large Bathers" This artist had a break in his relationship to Impressionism. In what ways is Impressionism maintained in this work and how is a return to more traditional forms introduced?
-sculptural, 3D figures -impressionist approach in the background -figures modeling like traditional art -a lot of blending
What influences trigger the break for the Impressionists from the principles, compositional devices, subject matter and painting techniques of traditional Western art?
-They also rejected the conventional imaginative or idealizing treatments of academic painting. -By the late 1860s, Manet's art reflected a new aesthetic—which was to be a guiding force in Impressionist work—in which the importance of the traditional subject matter was downgraded and attention was shifted to the artist's manipulation of color, tone, and texture as ends in themselves. In Manet's painting the subject became a vehicle for the artful composition of areas of flat color, and perspectival depth was minimized so that the viewer would look at the surface patterns and relationships of the picture rather than into the illusory three-dimensional space it created. -The Impressionists also adopted Boudin's practice of painting entirely out-of-doors while looking at the actual scene, instead of finishing up a painting from sketches in the studio, as was the conventional practice. -artists abandoned the traditional landscape palette of muted greens, browns, and grays and instead painted in a lighter, sunnier, more brilliant key. They began by painting the play of light upon water and the reflected colors of its ripples, trying to reproduce the manifold and animated effects of sunlight and shadow and of direct and reflected light that they observed. -they learned to build up objects out of discrete flecks and dabs of pure harmonizing or contrasting color, thus evoking the broken-hued brilliance and the variations of hue produced by sunlight and its reflections. -Forms in their pictures lost their clear outlines and became dematerialized
Pissarro: "Boulevard Montmartre, Mid-Afternoon" How does the availability of photographic images of the city affect the way the Impressionists then choose to paint the city? Discuss at least two ways.
-aerial view of Paris -Nadar photographed Paris in a hot air balloon -"birds eye view" -Pissarro painted this from his window at Hôtel de Russie in early 1897 -Pissarro marveled that he could "see down the whole length of the boulevards" with "almost a bird's-eye view of carriages, omnibuses, people, between big trees, big houses that have to be set straight
Monet: "Rouen Cathedral, Sunset" This was one of a series of works by this artist based on the same subject but handled at different times of day/times of year/weather conditions. Discuss this work in terms of lighting, atmosphere, surface treatment and intention of the artist. Be able to compare to Sisley's "The Church at Moret", Evening.
-approach: seems to dissolve -sunlight, noon, sunset -in the fog--> effect of morning light -sense of transformation; everything changes, even stone -The series -consisting of 31 canvases showing the facade of the Gothic Rouen Cathedral under different conditions of light and weather - So the building is here not more than a background, an "excuse", to show the authentic protagonist of the composition: the power of the painting to represent the dynamic quality of the light and the atmosphere, capable of giving life to something as stony and inanimate as the imposing facade of the Gothic Cathedral.
Morisot: "The Cage" This work possesses different levels of detail in the compositional elements. What are those levels and how they are achieved?
-bright, pastel color -no nuances of light but instead of paint on the surface -symbol of flowers -unprimed canvas -moving from the center out
Sisley: "The Lock of Saint-Mammes" Point to five ways this is an example of the art of the Impressionist movement. How does it reject the traditional Claudian formula?
-broken brushstrokes -lighter color palette -landscape painting outdoors, not in a studio; one must be of one's own time and paint what he sees -Claudian formula: approachable foreground, usually summertime, mid-afternoon, ideal times, mythological or religious (Biblical) subjects, large-scale, subject meant something -shows average French people on canoes and docks, not biblical figures -shows a lot of the sky (it is half the painting), instead of the a full composition of landscape
Manet: "Olympia" Discuss this work in terms of lighting, subject matter and treatment, and surface treatment. Be able to compare to Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
-using light to flatten form -transitional tones missing -angular -Olympia was a common name for a prostitute; socially ambiguous prostitute -she's short, symbol of lower classes; tallness associated with upperclass breeding -not elongated but instead short and sitting upright -black cat v Titian's little white puppy; black cat associated with evil in literature -accessories draw attention to the fact that she is naked -staring right at viewer
lithograph
A surface printing technique invented in 1798 which depends on the fact that grease and water do not mix. The design is drawn with a greasy chalk on the receiving surface (originally stone, then a zinc plate). The surface is wetted and the water runs off the chalked areas and the greasy ink will take on these areas but not on the dampened printing surface. A separate process is made for each of the colored inks. Used throughout the 19th century for reproduction but was pioneered as an art form for publicity posters by Toulouse-Lautrec.
What is plein air painting and why was it so important to the Impressionist artists?
En plein air is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. -Because they were interested in light these artists left the studio and began painting en plein air. Because they painted outside, the Impressionists had less time to mix colour and painted quickly to keep up with the ever-changing daylight. -Pissarro's early impressionist style did not do well but he met the Paris art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel in London, who helped sell his art for the rest of his life. Durand-Ruel put him in touch with Monet, who was also in London during this period.
Roger Fry
English critic who coined the term Post-Impressionism to describe the works exhibited at the "Manet and the Post-Impressionists" show at the Grafton Galleries in London on 8 November 1910
What is the importance of the date 1863?
In 1863, half of paintings submitted to the French salon were rejected by the jury which later gave rise to the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1974 (artists inspired by anti-Salon art; avant-garde) -In 1863, the Salon jury rejected Manet's The Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l'herbe) primarily because it depicted a nude woman with two clothed men at a picnic. -After Emperor Napoleon III saw the rejected works of 1863, he decreed that the public be allowed to judge the work themselves, and the Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Refused) was organized.
Manet: "Luncheon on the Grass" This painting is based on Renaissance models but changes were made to make it "modern". Discuss three ways that this work was unacceptable to the art academy of the time.
The painting was rejected by the salon that displayed painting approved by the official French academy. The rejection was occasioned not so much by the female nudes in Manet's painting, a classical subject, as by their presence in a modern setting, accompanied by clothed, bourgeois men. The incongruity suggested that the women were not goddesses but models, or possibly prostitutes. The woman in front isn't gazing away like in Titan's painting "Pastoral Symphony" but instead looking directly at the viewer, not embarrassed by her nakedness. Until Manet, artists typically reserved canvases of this size for academic paintings inspired by allegory, history, and mythology. By portraying an ordinary scene on such a large scale, Manet validated the seemingly mundane subjects, inspiring Impressionists like Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir to follow suit. The woman is also portrayed as naked, not elongated and rounded.
What is the preferred subject matter for the Impressionists and how does it reverse the hierarchy of the art academy?
The preferred subject matter of the Impressionists are landscapes and art depicting moments of time and entertainment. Landscapes are in the lower/middle of the Art Academy's hierarchy with history painting, portraiture and genre painting at the top.
Caillebotte: "Paris Street; Rainy Day" What is history painting and in what ways does this work break with the academic tradition? Provide at least three examples.
The term history painting was introduced in the seventeenth century to describe paintings with subject matter drawn from classical history and mythology, and the Bible - in the eighteenth century it was also used to refer to more recent historical subjects. History paintings usually depict a moment in a narrative story, rather than a specific and static subject, as in a portrait. -at the top of the French salon and the top of the Art Academy hierarchy -need anatomical knowledge and accurately show the human form -example: "Oath of Horati" This work breaks with the academic tradition because it is not as realistic (just look at the umbrella), shows modern life instead of historical narratives (boulevards converging, figures of different socio-economic classes), captures fleeting moments, and is huge like a history painting even though it is not one.
advancing and receding colors
colors are either warm or cool, warm colors (red, orange, yellow) advance and look larger, cool colors (green, blue, violet) recede and look smaller
Pont-Aven
area of Brittany where Gauguin spent summers
Maurice Denis, "Definition of Neo-Traditionalism" in Art et Critique (August 1890)
consolidated the views of the group and became their manifesto—its opening line: "Remember that a picture, before being a battle horse, a female nude, or some sort of anecdote, is essentially a flat surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order."
oil à l'essence
created by draining the oil from the paint on a blotting paper and then diluting it with turpentine which produces a softer effect, somewhere between oil and pastel, when it dries on the canvas.
Art Nouveau
decorative style that spread throughout Europe from around 1880-1910, characterized by flowing, sinewy lines and ornaments based on organic forms such as plants, leaves, branches, etc.
Cubism
from Matisse who, when viewing works by Braque, said he sent "a painting made of little cubes" which was then used again by art critic Louis Vauxcelles to describe the style
Emile Henri Bernard (1868-1941)
had artistic friendship with Gauguin and most active from 1886-1897 during which time he was association with the styles of synthetism (see Terms) and cloisonnism which used bold forms separated by dark contours
Which Post-Impressionist artist had the greatest influence on Cubism and what three aspects of his art contributed to the Cubist approach?
influenced by Cezanne's use of faceted planes, limited color palette, and multiple view perspective, in which they analyze the parts, break them down and reconstruct them in a complex arrangement of overlapping translucent planes
Noa noa
meaning "fragrance" in the Maori language, a collection of woodcuts and writings created by Gauguin in 1893 but not published until 1924 after his death
impasto
thick, heavy application of paint
Analytic cubism
style of Picasso and Braque, influenced by Cezanne's use of faceted planes, limited color palette, and multiple view perspective, in which they analyze the parts, break them down and reconstruct them in a complex arrangement of overlapping translucent planes in which the figure and its shallow spatial setting wholly integrate
synthetism
term coined by Paul Gauguin to describe his aesthetic which synthesized observation of the subject in nature with the artist's feelings about that subject, expressed through abstracted line, shape, space, and color
