Early Impressionism
History The Academy (Salon) rules French art 1863, rejects Manet’s “Luncheon on the Grass,” as well as 3,000 of 5,000 paintings submitted to it. 1874, “The Salon of the Refused” Photography has made art “as historical documentation” unnecessary. Photos can now record visual history.
Paris Salon, 1824
Characteristics Obvious brushwork Thick, layered paint Impression of the fleeting moment Effect of light on subject Plein air painting Middle class subjects
Claude Monet, Subjects: landscapes, series of poppies, Rouen Cathedral, water lilies Style: the classic Impressionist look; dissolved form of subject into light & atmosphere; soft edges
Impression, Sunrise
Gare St. Lazare
Lily Pond, Giverny
Water- lilies
Edward Manet, Subjects: Updated classic scenes; painted contemporary scenes with a hard edge Style: flat color patches outlined in black
Dinner on the Grass
Olympia
Venus of Urbino, Titian
Bar at the Folies Bergere
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Subjects: voluptuous, peach-skinned female nudes, café society, children, flowers Style: quick brush strokes, blurred figures blended into hazy background
Luncheon of the Boating Party
- Dance at the Moulin de La Galette
Nude Bathers
Edgar Degas, Subjects: ballerinas, café society, humans at rest Style: Off-beat angles, asymmetrical composition
Dance Rehearsal
The Absinthe Drinkers
Post-impressionism Dissatisfied with Impressionism. Some used formal, near scientific design. Others emphasized expression of emotions and sensations through color and light. Forerunners of 20 th century art with its individual styles.
Toulouse- Lautrec, painted posters of cabaret nightlife
Toulouse- Lautrec
Paul Cezanne, Subjects: still lifes with fruit, landscapes of Mont Ste. Victoire Style: forerunner of cubism, simple geometric shapes
Mont Sainte-Victoire
Cezanne, Large Bathers
Georges Seurat, Subjects: leisure activities in Paris Style: bright colors in tiny dots (pointilism)
Sunday Afternoon in the Park
Le Pont de Courbevoie
Vincent Van Gogh, Subjects: self-portraits, flowers, landscapes, still lifes Style: agitated, swirling brush strokes. Passionate, vibrant
Van Gogh, Starry Night
Sunflowers
Self- Portrait
Paul Gauguin, Subjects: Tahiti natives, peasants in Brittany Style: Exotic primitivism, brilliant colors
Gauguin, La Orana Maria
Two Women of Tahiti
Cubism An Important departure in early early-20 th Century art No longer trying to reproduce even the the appearance of reality (even more so than impressionism)…. Art for Art’s sake Art not a window on the world, but a window on the artist’s mind/emotions-“The painter thinks in forms and colors.” - Braque
Georges Braque, Woman With a Guitar
Braque Musical Instru- ments
Pablo Picasso, Guernica
les demoiselles d'avignon