Conclusion

 In conclusion,  my observations at the Norton Simon lead me to believe Impressionism had influenced and created a wave in modern thinking in Art.  Artist wanting to distance themselves from the classic Western art forms of ‘Realism’ and ‘Romanticism’ could do so by reshaping conventions in form, color, and reality in their work.  These new techniques and  perspectives in Art would forever change the conventions and limitations that had existed before. I  am sure this was challenging at the time, very provocative and inviting of critics, but without Impressionistic painters taking the first leap into this modern frontier, there is no doubt that contemporary modern art would not be the same.  
Below is a side-by-side comparison of  all three of these important and revolutionary art movements.

  
Here is a copy of my ticket stub

and a not so great picture of myself. 

The Cubist

Cubism became one of the most influential art styles that came out of the Impressionist movement.  It was was birthed or linked from "Primitivism and non-western sources." The emphasis of the work was on perspective, shape, and form.  It usually went beyond abstract form;  it re-assembled fractured objects into geometric patterns and shapes that created three-dimensional compositions of  everyday objects and people. Objects could now be looked at or analyzed form many viewpoints because there was not a liner or direct perspective in which to understand them.  Pablo Picasso and Georges Barque are seen as the father's of this movement. Exploration and world travel allowed Picasso to be influenced by African Art and Tribal masks that were custom of the time.  There was also a simplification of natural forms in to geometric shapes such as cylinders, spheres, cones, boxes, squares, rectangles, lines and circles. 

Liubov Popova (Russia, 1889-1924)
The Traveler, 1915
Oil on canvas


"Popova studied Cubism in Paris in 1912, Her painting of The Traveler teeters on the edge of abstraction." It is noted, that "composition is broken into fragments, one can still discern remnants of reality." Cubist always tried to have a objective or subject to their work. This fracturing or dismantling in to broken shapes was only to achieve overlapping  planes of reality. 












*A close up of the above painting

Alexander Archipenko (Ukrainian/American, 1887-1964)
Figure, 1917
Watercolor and pencil on wove paper


Here we can see the shape of woman, sitting down at rest, shown by use of many geometric forms without making the image distancing or cold.  Although if compared to a Impressionistic painting or a Post Impressionist painting some might find it hard to determine what this subject matter was. 


















Below is a sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz (French, 1891-1973) Titled the Bather III, 1917 (bronze)

The Norton Simon is not home to many of Picasso's earlier works which show some of the foundations of Cubism.  It was however part of his continuing style,  so remnants of his techniques and use of abstract form can be found in much of his later work.  


Pablo Picasso (spanish, 1881-1973)
Head of a Woman, c. 1927
Oil on canvas

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1818-1973)
Woman with Mandolin, 1925
Oil on canvas


Here we can see that a more defined and realistic perception of a woman.  Although she is still made up of dismantled and flat colored planes.  

Jacques Lipchitz 

BATHER, 1923-25

* All pictures were taken by me, and links are included below where more information was referenced or can be found. 

The Metropolitan museum of Art (cubism)

The Lilith Gallery

Post Impressionism

Post Impressionism was a term that was used when speaking of Impressionistic painting that had changed from its original methods of painting light colors, real life subjects, and wispy brush strokes.  Although these methods were still used, the new color pallet emphasized more vivid and rich saturation.  The brush strokes were still broad and flowing, but they tending to become tighter to express shapes or in some cases were made by a series of small dots to create a larger image.  Some artist like Vincent van Gogh continued to use exaggerated brush strokes, only now he applied vivid and rich colors in swirling patterns to promote a feeling of emotions, as opposed to showing them through a subjects expression.  Post Impressionism was the first step in further exploration in the new forms of modern painting. Subject matter did not always have to be representational; an emphasis on emotions and feelings was more important.  Artistic work was similar or inspired by the teachings of Freud. The work was to show an inner reality or a possible emotional consciousness.  Much was happening at the turn of the century, such as revolutions in science, challenging political thought, expansion of the middle class, exploration and travel of new countries, and conflicts between traditional values and new ideas. Modernism, in the form of art, was set on challenging and exploring these new beliefs and changes that were happening in society.  


In the piece below, one can see starting changes in the techniques used by artist influenced by earlier Impressionistic works. This is from an artist who was part of the Nabi movement, which was closely connected to the Symbolist and Art Nouveau movements.  "They strongly opposed positivism and naturalism, movements that were aligned with the Impressionistic movement." The subject matter is not profoundly different then that of the Impressionist, but the artist's opinions about the interplay of shapes and colors were. 

Paul Serusier (French, 1863-1927)

Synchromy in Yellow, 1900-1913 or 1915

Oil on canvas

Emile Bernard (French, 1868-1941)

Brittany Landscape, c. 1888-1889

Oil on Canvas 

The Landscape, shows influences of exaggeration of color blending and elongated brushstrokes. 

Georges Lacombe (French, 1868-1916)

Autumn: The Chestnut Gatherers, 1894

Oil on Canvas

Here one can see use of dark, rich, provocative pigments. The shapes of the women are more pronounced and yet there is still soft blending that occurs in background of the forest floor. 

The Vincent van Gogh Gallery  feels that "his finest works were produced in less then three years in a technique that grew more and more impassioned in brushstroke, in symbolic and intense color,  in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line."   Although the Norton Simon is not home to many of Van Gogh's works, it does have two that spotlight his transition from Impressionism, to his more commonly known work of "emotional and imaginative" expressionism. 

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)

Portrait of a Peasant(patience Escalier), 1888

Oil on canvas 

Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)

The Mulberry Tree, 1889

Oil on canvas

Van Gogh said his brushstrokes were"firm and interwoven

with feeling, like a piece of music played with emotion."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919)

Reclining Nude, c. 1892

Oil on canvas 

Renior still used " sinuous, free flowing lines, and light pastel" colors of the Impressionistic style but focused back to romanticism, using soft and swirling brushstrokes. 

*Imagine curtsey of Norton Simon Museum 

Henri Rousseau (French, 1844-1910)

Exotic Landscape, 1910

Oil on canvas 

Vasily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-44)

Sketch for 'Deluge I", 1912

Oil and charcoal on cardboard 

Kandisky, work starts to show a shift to abstraction. There is use vivid colors and excessive blending but there is no predominate form that emerges from the patterns. This style was to evoke emotion or feelings coming from ordinary perception. 

*Imagine curtsey of Norton Simon Museum

*All pictures were taken by me unless otherwise stated, additional links to Post Impressionist information are listed below 
The Nabis
The Vincent van Gogh Gallery
The Metropolitan Museum (Post Impressionism)

Impressionist

The Impressionist movement is attributed to getting its start in  Paris, France in the late 1800’s. It included such artist as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Eugène Delacroix, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, and Èdouard Manet to name a few.  It was a sweeping change from the Realism and Romanticism styles of artistic expression that had been defining academic painting the years before.   Realism strived to depict scenes in a ‘realistic’ tone, although it was usually done with a dark color pallet and in a hard and precise manner.  Where as Impressionism truly bent to the natural colors of nature.  Artist could now mix paint directly on canvas, and not just on the their palettes due to modern advancements in paint tubes.  This technique also allowed  for playing with brush stokes, because paint was being applied directly to the surface in thick globs.  They used a lot of natural and out door settings to search for the utmost ‘real’ or ‘life like’ color in their subjects.  They also based a lot of their tones on how light played into or reflected off of an object.  They choose to paint subject matter that included exposed every day life scenes such as boating, strolling in the park, playing with your children, relaxing at the beach, ballet, theater, or just about any leisure activity of the era. 

 Edgar Degas

Left & right: DANCER AT REST,

HANDS BEHIND HER BACK,

RIGHT LEG FORWARD, c. 1885-95

Center: DRESSED DANCER AT REST,

HANDS BEHIND HER BACK, RIGHT LEG

FORWARD, c. 1885-95 Bronze

 Edgar Degas

French, 1834-1917

Left & right: FORTH POSITION,

FRONT, ON THE LEFT LEG

c. 1885-90

Bronze

 Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

The Star: Dancer on Pointe, c. 1878-80

Gouache and pastel on paper, mounted on board

Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

After the Bath, c. 1890-93

Pastel on paper mounted on cardboard

Degas is considered one of the founders of the Impressionist movement. The Norton Simon has an outstanding collection of his sculptures that were used to help him study the body movements and positions of  dancers. Above is a tiny sampling of what is there to offer; it is said that Degas only showed one sculpture as a finished work, these which are at the museum are the master models which were discovered in 1955.

* The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

In this painting one can see the classic use of large amounts of unblended paint to create the 'life like'  effect of the river's choppy waves. There is also the presence of 'everyday life,' which is shown by activity amongst the sailors to navigate the rough waters at hand.

Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)

Mouth of the Seine, Honfleur, 1965

Oil on canvas          

Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903)

The Poultry Market at Pontoise, 1882

Oil on canvas

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919)
Nude, c. 1872
Oil on canvas






Paintings of the nude body or of women in private moments was a common theme that appeared in a lot of work of the Impressionist painters.  I believe it was a way to show contrast to the new modern life. One could still be seen as heavenly and reflective in the midst of encroaching industrialization and modernization of culture and society.  

Below one can see the simple and pure subject matter;  the tending of a mans flock of sheep on a cloudy afternoon. There is exceptional detail in the brush stokes, and very deliberate choice in cool, downy colors. The viewer also perceives movement, this is due to the use of small dots blending into the many brush strokes to create a soft and tangible feel. This painting was done at the height of  Impressionism;  one can see all the representative

techniques used to illuminate the purity and beauty of everyday affairs.

On the museum wall plate it stated that,  "Pissarro was one of the only artist to participate in all of the eight Impressionist exhibitions of the time period."

A close up to show more detail of the brush strokes, the use of heavy paint, and the blending  of complimentary tones to create natural colors. 

Camille Pissarro (French, 1830-1903)
Landscape with Flock of Sheep, 1889 and 1902 
Oil on canvas 




*All photographs were taken by me and were asked to reproduced and published for this project.
Additional information or "quotations" used came from The Norton Simon Museum wall plates. Inside the body of this blog there are a few links (words in different colors) to appropriate websites that contain additional information on the time period or artistic movement in discussion.  

A trip to the Norton Simon

This picture belongs to the Norton Simon Museum, permission has been asked to use it.

Norton Simon 

The focus of this blog is to help analyze and explore shifting views and perspectives that were taking place in western art from the late 1800’s, into the early 20^th-century. I will look at three movements of artistic expression that reflect these changes. With the birth of Industrialization, and with the help of modern perspectives in thinking, artistic expression took a radical turn in breaking the norms of artistic conventions at the turn of the 19^th-century. In the late 1800’s, the Impressionist movement wanted to depict reality in actual time so they were strongly influenced by such things as natural light and everyday events. Post Impressionism and Cubism continued this tradition and dislodged realties and conventions even further by expanding or distorting color and geometric shapes. The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena has a well defined collection that offers excellent examples from these three distinct movements in art history. The museums website boasts there are “approximately 1,000 works from the permanent collection of 12,000 objects on view” at any given moment.  I would strongly suggest that one endeavors to take their own exploration of the Norton Simon museum but hopefully this blog will demonstrate what this artistic oasis has to offer.