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.