Impressionism

1860-1886

Impressionism

• Rejected Renaissance perspective, balance, idealization • Present an “impression” or “perception” • Painted nature outdoors • Hated academic instruction • Critics hated this work • Distinct short, choppy brushstrokes – Up-close, picture is unrecognizable

Edouard Manet

• Called the Father of Modern Art • • Didn’t consider himself an impressionist • Copied Renaissance and Baroque masters

Luncheon on the Grass

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Disliked because nude was not “ideal” Triangular Goddess like figure in background Still life in foreground

Olympia

Claude Monet

• Light=color • Lived in poverty • Obsessed with painting outside • Painted small dabs of color – Used complimentary colors to shade – Never shaded in black

Rouen Cathedral, the West Portal and Saint-Romain Tower, Full Sunlight, Harmony in Blue and Gold

The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil

The Thames at Westminster

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

• Never used black • Cut people off at edges of canvas • Strayed from Impressionism towards classicism • Arthritis: painted with brush strapped to wrist • Painted happy things – Beautiful women, flowers, children, landscapes

Le Moulin de la Galette

Seated Bather

Monet painting in his garden at Argenteuil

Edgar Degas

• Reluctant impressionist • Hated painting outdoors • Subjects: ballerinas, racetracks, circuses, cafes, nudes bathing • Spontaneous/not posed • Main character off center • Went blind and turned to sculpture

The Rehearsal

Prima Ballerina

Woman Combing Her Hair

The Little 14-Year-Old Dancer

Expressionism

1880-1905 • Used a lot of Impressionist ideal • “Rainbow bright color patches” • Distorted forms in a controlled space • No use of traditional perspective • Disliked Impressionism – Wanted art to be more substantial – Not dedicated to a passing moment

Georges Seurat

• Meticulous man • Finished only 7 large paintings • Died at age 31 • Method know as pointillism – Confetti-sized dots of pure, unmixed color – Supposed to fuse together like a mosaic

La Cirque

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

• Subjects from contemporary life (theaters, dance halls, circuses) • ‘Landscape is only a background’ • Childhood accident left him deformed • Lived in a brothel for a while • Created lithography • Posters became accepted as art

Lithograph

Moulin Rouge

Rue de Moulin, The Medical Inspection

Paul Cezanne

• Started out with the Impressionists • They did not accept him and critics hated him • Used geometry in paintings • Very symmetrical • “The culmination of art is figure painting” – Would not work from models – Combines real and abstract

Apples, Peaches, Pears and Grapes

Large Bathers

Vincent van Gogh

• Adopted the brushstroke of the Impressionist • Hero/friend was painter Paul Gauguin • Mentally imbalanced • Sold one painting during his life • Unlucky in love • Cut off ear lobe and gave it to a prostitute • Painted “Starry Night” in an asylum • Committed suicide

“Who would believe that life could be so sad?”

Portrait of Dr. Gachet

In 1990, sold for $82.5 million.

Wheat Field Under Threatening Skies

This was his final piece.

Van Gogh Painting Sunflowers

Paul Gauguin

Would van Gogh be as famous as he is had he not committed suicide?

Did his troubled life help him create artistic masterpieces?