Friday 12 August 2011

'Impressionism' by Hasnat.



Introduction:

Impressionism was a popular French movement in the 19th century which symbolises a significant break from European tradition in painting.  The movement took its name from the title of Claude Monet’s most famous work, ‘Impression, soleil levant ‘which means ‘Impression, Sunrise’. Monet was part of a group of painters who made their mark by setting up their own exhibition after being rejected by the art establishment. This exhibition received criticism and the term ‘Impressionist’ was used to belittle the artists and their works.

Despite being rejected by the establishment of art, the public later realised that these works of art were by no means any meagre artworks but an inventive and fresh approach introduced by the Impressionists.

The popularity of this movement started from paintings and visual arts and later developed into other forms of media; music and great works in literature. Other later styles of art; neo-impressionism, post impressionism, fauvism and cubism were inspired by Impressionism making it their predecessor.

Background & Context:

In the past traditional European art was only confined to painting pictures of portraits, historical events, religious themes, war, etc. The colours used by the orthodox artist’s were dismal, dark and gloomy.

Impressionist images mainly consisted of outdoor paintings including landscapes and existing modern life. The newer artists had newer ideas and were more interested in using light, bright and bold colours and recreating real-life current events and objects.

The techniques employed by these artists was to achieve a real image of a common or ordinary subject matter and emphasising the attributive properties of light by using an exact match of colour and tone and using shorter but visible brush strokes. The most important element of their work was the understanding of human perception and the inclusion of ‘movement’ of any object which gave their work an impression of reality.

Key Players & Works:

1.       Claude Monet (1840-1926): A French artist and one of the founders of the Impressionist Movement. His painting, ‘Impression, soleil levant’, formed the title of Impressionism. In his early days his area of expertise was seen in caricature but he was later persuaded to take up landscape painting by his mentor. During his career he produced a huge amount of work and finally found success in 1890. His other famous works are: 'Haystacks' (1890-1891), 'Rouen Cathedral' (1891-1895) and his infamous series of ‘Water Lilies’. His work can be found around the world in many art galleries.

2.       Edouard Manet (1832-1883): Of French descent, Manet was a highly instinctive and diverse artist. He was admired by other impressionist artists and had a great influence on them although he did not mix with them. He worked independently painting everyday objects and chose not to exhibit with the impressionists. His controversial works; ‘The Luncheon on the Grass’ (1863) and ‘Olympia’ (1865) made him one of the fathers of the early 20th century modern art and a figurehead for the avant-garde.


3.       Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919): After moving to Paris in 1845, Renoir started painting porcelain in a factory. In 1862, he met his team of later to be leading impressionists; Monet, Sisley and Bazille at the studio of Gleyre. He received critical acclaim in the late seventies after much struggle. He believed in beauty and most of his work showcases pretty women, children, sceneries and flowers. Renoir became famous for his transition from impression to free-style in ‘The Umbrellas' (1884), his astonishing brushstrokes in 'Young Girl Carrying a Basket of Fish' (1889) and 'The Judgement of Paris' (c.1913-1914) for involving a mythological subject.

4.       Alfred Sisley (1839-1899): Sisley was a true Englishman born in France and a more consistent impressionist landscape painter. Sisley produced paintings that were bright and colourful and he would paint together with his impressionist friends in the open air in order to capture the true essence of the sunlight. His famous works include ‘Lane near a small Town’ (c. 1864), many depictions of the River Thames, ‘The Lane of Poplars at Moret’ (1890), which was stolen three times and recovered by the French Police in 2008.


5.       Jean Frederic Bazille (1841-1870): Bazille was a wealthy French man who failed his medicine exam and converted to a full time impressionist painter. He gained popularity at the very young age of 23 through his painting, ‘The Pink Dress’ (ca. 1864). He worked along the theme of painting figures within the landscape in the open air and is well known for his masterpiece, ‘Family Reunion’ (1867).

Themes & Styles:

The themes employed by the Impressionists varied from broad landscapes to vineyards and boulevards of city life and dancing delicate ballerinas. From everyday objects to river banks, canals, country sides, seashores, horse races, women, children, flowers etc. The main attraction of these themes was the incorporation of movement, effects of passage of time, changing lights, normal transition mechanisms through a keen observation of nature.

The colours used by these artists were bold, sharp, bright and in their purest form. They did not believe in mixing colours in a palette and would rather use primary colours and splash the paint on their canvases and leave the rest to the viewer’s imagination. They were more used to working on wet paint on the other wet paint instead of allowing one layer to dry. Impressionist painters would not employ the colour black into any of their paintings.

Impressionists employed a new technique of using shorter but thicker and bolder brush strokes to emphasise the subject rather than the details. Their style of painting was not definitive but lacked in detail and the mass of colours and light allowed the paintings to speak for themselves.

Reactions to the Movement:

Initially, the reaction to this new style of impressionism was hostile and severe. The public was used to seeing traditional art made up of conservative and sombre colours and consisting of religious themes, historic figures and events. To them, if they would look at a picture, it would depict reality and be defined and true to its form.

The new artists were shunned by the critics and the art establishments for their bold colours and undefined paintings of landscapes and objects.

The works of realist artists like Monet, Sisley, Renoir and Bazille were rejected by the establishment so they worked freelance and made up their own exhibition and worked under the sky in open air.

Manet's ‘The Luncheon on the Grass’, depicting a naked woman and two fully clothed men on the grass, was rejected by the jury in 1863. Later alongside with other rejected work, it was commissioned to appear at the ‘Salon des Refuses’ by Emperor Napoleon III in 1863. The Salon recognised a new form of art and attracted more visitors than a normal salon would.

The Impressionists received heavy criticism for their innovative works but it wasn’t long before the public approved of this new approach to art and began to appreciate it.

Conclusion:

It is very hard to imagine how important the Impressionist Movement was for the people who were a part of it. Today we have these beautiful paintings in our collections without realising the struggle and hardships the founders had to face with this particular movement.

A true form of art comes into being when the personality of the artist is not masked and his true emotions and techniques shine through is work. Without acknowledging the key concepts, the transition, the struggle and the ideology behind the Impressionist Movement, we are unable to truly appreciate this form of art which is by no means ‘Art for the sake of Art’.


Bibliography:

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