IMPRESSIONISM:1860-1880 SPONTANEITY, DIRECTNESS, NEW EXCITEMENT TO THE ART OF PAINTING

MONET’S IMPRESSION OF SUNRISE Group of artist ( Monet, Degas, Renoir etc.) whose work had been rejected by the “stuffy” Salon held an exhibition of their own at the studio of the photographer Nadar. Impressionism (as a art name) was coined by Louis Leroy who mockingly called the artists in an article “impressionist” after Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise (1872) The name stuck

WHO’S WHO: PRIMARY Claude Monet: Lily-pond painter was master of light and color, eventually went blind Edgar Degas: Ballerinas Pierre Auguste Renoir: Pollyanna with a paintbrush; made dappled pictures of the good life, including copious nudes. Later ripped with rheumatoid arthritis Auguste Rodin: Sculptor

WHO’S WHO: SECONDARY(SOME NOT ALL) Edouard Manet— connected with novelist Emile Zola Mary Cassett—American painter of Mother/children John Sargent: American John Whistler: American

ART ACADEMIES, SALONS, AND ECOLES Since the Renaissance various official groups have schemed to control the way art was taught and exhibited. Art Academy was originally inspired by Plato’s school—called simply the Academy Art academies supervised the training of apprentice artist, arranged annual exhibitions called salons, and upheld standards of artistic correctness Over the years, most proved hostile to new and creative art The “avent-garde artists” would rebel having their own exhibitions and eventually the power of the academies were all but broken

CLAUDE MONET WATERLOO BRIDGE, SUNLIGHT EFFECT, 1903 OIL ON CANVAS 25 7/8 X 39 3/4 ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

PIERRE=AUGUSTE RENOIR, 1876 LE MOULIN DE LA GALETTE (PEOPLE IN PARIS) OIL ON CANVAS 131 X 175 CM MUSEE D’ORSAY

EDWARD DEGAS: 1983-95 DANCING LESSON OIL ON CANVAS 15 1/2” X 39 3/4” STERLING &FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE, WILLIAMSTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS

MARY CASSATT, 1891 LETTER ETCHING AND AQUATINT 17” X 11 7/8” PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART

AUGUSTE RODIN, 1881 THE THINKER BRONZE 23” MUSEE RODIN, PARIS

WINSLOW HOMER, 1873-1876 BREEZING UP OIL ON CANVAS 24 1/8” X 38 1/8” NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C.

JOHN SINGER SARGENT, 1882 DAUGHTERS OF EDWARD BARLEY OIL ON CANVAS 7’ 3” X 7’ 3” MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, MA

JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER, 1871 ARRANGEMENT IN BLACK AND GRAY (PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST’S MOTHER) OIL ON CANVAS 56.8” X 63.9” MUSEE D’ORSAY, PARIS

SUMMARY OF IMPRESSIONISM Impressionist exhibited together but painted in varying styles Interested in the effects of light and atmosphere Known for perfecting the technique if divisionism, in which dashes of complementary color were placed side by side on the canvas to create shadows Planned their pictures very carefully in order to reproduce the spontaneous experience of daily life.