French ConnectionFrench Connection““That looks like an impression of a painting…”That looks like an impression of a painting…” sneered the criticsneered the critic

Impressionism

Post-Impressionism

Impressionism Forerunner… Manet Manet (1832-83)

born into ranks of Parisian bourgeoisie

credo: “Painter of modern life”

believed that success as an artist only obtained through recognition at the Salon

After rejection by salon, set up his own exhibitions

Early work was before Impressionists

fully supported their aims worked closely w/ Monet

influence of Zola: “Japonisme”

Luncheon on the Grass, Edouard Manet… 7’ x 8’8”, oil on canvas

Napoleon III authorized Exhibition of refused artists from the Salon, such as Manet and MonetManet’s Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe was found scandalous… modern version of the Pastoral Concert by Titian(or Giorgione?)Figures are not modelled.. Very flat, not relating with each other.

Compare Manet & Giorgione…

Olympia, Manet, 1863, oil on canvas, 4’3” x 6’2” (Louvre)…

courtesan stares out at us, not modeled figure. Play by Alexandre Dumas (les Miserables, 3 Musketeers) about social climbing prostitute with same name…Olympia confronts the viewer, she is powerful.. NOT an accommodating female nude .. Manet began to gather with other rejects (refuses) in

Montmartre…

Compare Manet & Titian…

Olympia, Manet, 1868 Venus of Urbino, Titian, 1538

Bar at the Folies-Bergere, Manet, oil on canvas, 1882

Barmaid stares out at us

What is the mirror reflecting?

Trapeze in upper far left corner

Composition pushes goods for sale up to the counter

Modern sales technique of products next to a pretty sales girl

More impressionistic than Manet’s early works

Mystery of the Mirror in Manet’s painting…

French Connection

Impressionism

ImpressionismThe movement's name was derived from Monet's early work, Impression: Sunrise, which was singled out for criticism by Louis Leroy upon its exhibition. The hallmark of the style is the attempt to capture the subjective impression of light in a scene.

The Impressionist style was probably the single most successful and

identifiable "movement" ever, and is still widely practiced today.

Impressionism Context: style

Role of artist: To capture the subjective impression of light

in a scene. Naturalistic and down-to-earth treatment of its

subject matter.

Technology: photography Impressionists felt the need to alter their style

and compositional techniques because they perceived photography as a threat.

Subject matter: turned away from

Renaissance tradition

uninterested in religion, mythology & history

instead, looked to contemporary life

leisure transportation down-and-outs

Impressionism

Claude Monet Impressionism: Sunrise 1872

Leader of the Impressionists

Aesthetic aim: fleeting effects of light, shadow and atmosphere.

Application of paint: thick, heavy layers or strokes (impasto).

Influenced by: Baroque “painterliness” (ex: Rubens)

Distinguished from Renaissance ideal that used flat, smooth paint

surface

MONET, Claude

Impression, Sunrise (1873)

Oil on canvas, 19 x 24 3/8"

Musee

Marmottan, Paris.

Monet’s Rouen Cathedral in sun, 1894, oil on canvas, 40” x 26” (and in sunset…)

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Monet’s Water Lilies (c. 1900)

Monet did a series of large canvases on water lilies.

He frequently painted his house at Giverny with the gardens and Japanese bridge.

His friend Renoir painted him, painting in his garden.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party 1881

Renoir

Narrative: photographic effect and aura of spontaneity.

Light and shadow: fleeting effects of sunlight falls in patches, dappling the surface

Handling of paint: loose and rapid thick “impasto”

Subjects: outdoor scenes leisure time & gaiety of middle-class Parisians

RENOIR.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881)

Oil on canvas,

51 x 68 in.

Phillips Collection,

Washington, D.C.

Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette, oil on canvas, 4 ft x 6’ approximately

Dappling effect of fleeting light

People not posed, enjoying meals and dancing

Photographic randomness of clipped figures

The Dance Class 1881

Degas

Pastels and Oil Paintings

Subjects: ballet dancers, the opera

Rehearsal on Stage, Edgar Degas, Pastel drawing

Worked mostly indoors (not plein aire0

Asymetrical compositions

Feathery brushstrokes showing the dancers’ costumes

Japanese print influence in composition

Rehearsal on Stage, Degas, 1874, pastel drawing

Degas’ The Absinthe Drinkers (c. 1875)

Young Mother1891

Mary Cassatt

Friend of Degas & Renoir

Naturalism, innocence of children

Influenced by Japanese prints. Pastel & Oil.

Subjects: Mothers and children, her sister

Breakfast in Bed, Mary Cassatt

Cassatt did a series of paintings and pastel drawings on the theme of mother and child.

Tenderness foreign to other Impressionists

American expatriate

Influential in bringing Impressionist paintings to US where they were a huge hit

Natural charm

Japanese influence

Everyday life of women, independent, living their lives

Maternal Caress, woodblock print,

Mary Cassatt was influenced by Japanese prints tilted style, outlining, pattern, and treatment of space.

She did a series of woodblock prints inspired by ukiyo-e.

Oil on canvas, 32” x 23”

Shows her sister at the opera

Again, women going about their daily activities

Dazzling colors and brushwork

Lydia in a Loge, Mary Cassatt, 1879

Summer’s Day, Berthe Morisot, oil on canvas, 1879

Sister in law of Manet and grandaughter of Fragonard

Sketchy, painterly brushwork

Middle class women

Asymmetrical composition

Another female Impressionist

James Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875

•Subtle harmonies of painting comparable to music

•Japanese influence-Japanese signature

•Atmospheric effect of fireworks, study in harmony of color, shape, light

•Whistler successfully sued a critic over negative comments

Impressionism Questions:

1. What was the name of Monet’s painting that started the Impressionism movement?

2. What is the role of a Impressionist artist?

3. Why did the impressionists felt the need to alter their style and compositional techniques?

4. Who paints the subjects of outdoor scenes leisure time & gaiety of middle-class Parisians?

French Connection

Post-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism

Post-Impressionism artists were dissatisfied with limitations of Impressionist style.

They were influenced by Impressionism but took their art in other directions, it is less idyllic and more emotionally charged than Impressionist work.

Analyzed structure, and solidity of forms.

Still strong influence of Japanese prints…

Post-Impressionism 1885-1905

Characteristics: bright color and visible, distinctive brushwork

Trends: more emphasis on composition and form and greater psychological depth.

Impact: set the stage for major directions of early 20th century art

Very different from Impressionism’s informal, seemingly accidental quality

intellectual & scientific methodical application of

uniformly sized dots strongly based on system of

rules mathematical precision color theory

Sunday Afternoon at the Park 1885

Seurat

Style: Pointillism

SEURAT, Georges.

A Sunday Afternoon on

the Island of la Grande Jatte

(1884-86)

Oil on canvas, 6’10” x 10’1 1/4”

Art Institute of Chicago.

Statuesque figures not interacting… anonymity of modern society? Scientific analysis of color relationshiops (pointilism)

The Bather1885

Cezanne

Figure: non-formulaic

Composition: tight, construction of upright & horizontal forms

Figure coincides with the lines of landscape:Upper body the sky

Lower body the earth.

Landscape: conceptual, not ‘plein air.’

CEZANNE

The Bather (c. 1885)

Oil on canvas, 50 x 38 1/8 in

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.

Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cezanne, 1887

Part of a series from mature period

Wanted to make objects geometric constructions with splashes of pure color

Solid and firmly constructed, not dappled momentary glimpse like the Impressionists did (Post Impressionism)

Look at apace, but not enter

Used perspective by juxtaposing warm colors and receding cool colors

Still Life with Basket of Apples, Cezanne, 1894

Tilted perspective

Contrast of solid forms with flat surfaces

Painterly brushstrokes

Van Gogh

Aim: to filter emotions through his “temperament”

Color: vibrant

Forms: simplified and outlined in black contours.

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

1889

Brushwork: impasto

Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh, 28” x 36”, 1889

Thick short brushstrokes, impasto paint

View from hospital room in St-Remy

At one with forces of nature

Left to right wave impulse in his work, tree looks like green flames reaching to the sky exploding with stars

Plum Orchard, Hiroshige, Ukiyo-e print, 1857 Japonisme Flowering Plum Tree, Van Gogh, oil, 1887

Japanese Influence on Post Impressionists: Van Gogh

Manaha No Atua, (Day of the God), Paul Gauguin, oil on canvas. Symbolism (post impressionism), 1894.

Gauguin traveled to Tahiti in search of paradise

Painted native peoples in geomatric bright colors

Exotic primitivism

Symbolic, mysterios

Color to express emotion

1893, Art Nouveau style

Noted graphic designer (not called that then.. Poster designer)

Physically handicapped, short man

Influence of Degas

Influence of Japanese prints ukiyo-e

Emphasis on curving lines, text integrated with the forms in the picture…

Toulouse-Lautrec frequented the Moulin Rouge (check out the movie with Nicole Kidman!)

Jane Avril, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, lithograph

Other Connections

Art Nouveau

Architecture, Sculpture

Eiffel Tower, 1887-1889

Gustave Eiffel

19th Century more skeletal architecture.. Many buildings (remember Crystal Palace?) had skeleton holding up a exterior curtain of glass or steel.

Land values soared, so buildings went UP (skyscrapers, etc.)

Eiffel specialized in railway bridges

Centerpiece of 1889 Paris Universal Exposition

Interlocking members of a democratic society.. Innovative elevator swings up diagonally

Also helped with Statue of Liberty and Panama Canal!

Marshall Field Wholesale Store, 1885, Chicago, Henry Hobson Richardson

•Influence of Medici palaces from Renaissance

•Heavy Romanesque arches

•Iron columns for interior supports (Skeletal construction)

•Interior arranged around a central court

•Feminine department store + masculine warehouse look

•Few historical illusions

•Chicago School of architecture formed after Great Fire

•Otis invented elevator, which allowed high buildings

•Prototype of modern office building

•Accent on horizontal thrust

•Exterior: decorative terra cotta tiles

•Same architect built Guaranty Building in NY, and Carson Pirie Scott in Chicago…

•“Form follows function” was his motto, now very famous in architecture

Wainwright Building, 1890

Louis Sullivan, Chicago School

The Arts and Crafts movement was popular in the late 19th century, LED BY WILLIAM MORRIS.

The idea was for everyday items to be made by trained craftspeople, not high priced artists, but to have beauty in everyday objects.

The Kiss, Gustav Klimt, 1907

Art Nouveau (art deco) style

Golden painting

Part of the Viennese secession movement

Decorative patterns, gold more important than realistic modeling of forms

Lovers are close to the edge of a cliff

Art Deco style

The Waltz, Camille Claudel

Originally cast with both figures nude, she had to modify it.

1892-1905 … Art deco or Art Nouveau style

Burghers of Calais, Auguste Rodin, bronze, 1889

Six burghers offer their lives to English king in return for saving their besieged city during Hundred Years war

Parallels between Paris in 1870 war and war in 1347

Each figure has different emotion

Sculpted individually, shown worn and hungry

Central figure is ready for his execution