The Art of Impressionism

“Impressionism is only direct sensation. All great painters were less or more impressionists. It is mainly a question of instinct."

Claude Monet

Impressionism was developed by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and other Paris-based artists from the early 1860s. (Though the process of painting on the spot can be said to have been pioneered in Britain by John Constablein around 1813–17 through his desire to paint nature in a realistic way). Other core artists of impressionism were Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, with Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet also often associated with the movement.

A Photograph of Claude Monet

A photographic portrait of
Auguste Renoir

Impressionism can be considered as the first movement in painting to be distinguished as 'modern'. The movement eventually matured in Paris during the 1860s, eventually spreading throughout the majority of Europe as well as the United States. At that time, artists who were rejecting the government-sanctioned art exhibitions were being disgraced from the most powerful academic art institutions. These deviant artists, rather then giving attention to a fine finish with immaculate details, favoured to capture the 'moment'; an impression on the mind's eye of a particular instant in space and time. To achieve such results, the Impressionists moved from their studios and into the outdoor world, in the streets the country side; painting en plein air (in the open air).

These impressionists completely changed their brushwork and lightened the colour palettes of their artwork, in order to convey the intensity of the moment and their passion. As they began to abandon traditional linear perspective, they centered their attention on elements that were seldom given any application if any at all. On this basis, critics of that time viewed Impressionist paintings in negative light, owing to the unfinished and amateurish appearance that these paintings conveyed.

Following Gustave Courbet's ideas, the Impressionists' main objective was to portray reality through their brush and paint - they aimed to extend the possible subjects of their artwork.  Hence they distanced themselves from the idealized forms and symmetries encourage by the academies and drew the world with its imperfections. Truth is relative and everyone sees and interprets the worlds through different eyes. A perfect example of this would be the 'Grenouillere' painitngs by Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Thee two artists painted their works on the same location and at the same time, but the paintings themselves are vastly different in tone, colour and contrast.

Les Bain de la Grenouillere (1869)

Artist: Claude Monet

Oil on Canvas - Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Bain a la Grenouillere (1869)

Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Oil on Canvas - Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

Instead of painting in a studio, the Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by working quickly, in front of their subjects, en plein air rather than in a studio. This resulted in a greater awareness of  the interaction of light and colour with the setting. and observed how the pattern of the natural scene shifted with the passage of time. After all, a momentt is only a minute fragment of history, easily forgotten lest there be no record of it. Therefore, Impressionists began to hasten their brushwork, becoming more rapid and broken into separate dabs in order to render the fleeting quality of light.

At the time, there were many ideas of what constituted modernity. Part of the Impressionist idea was to capture a split second of life, a short-lived moment in time on the canvas: the Impression. Scientific thought at the time was beginning to recognize that what the eye perceived and what the brain understood were two completely different things. The Impressionists sought to capture the former - the optical effects of light - to convey the passage of time, changes in weather, and other shifts in the atmosphere in their canvases. The realistic depiction of nature wasn't necessarily the forefront notion behind their works.

The first group exhibition was in Paris in 1874 and included work by Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and Paul Cezanne. The work shown was greeted with derision with Monet’s Impression, Sunrise particularly singled out for ridicule and giving its name (used by critics as an insult) to the movement. Seven further exhibitions were then held at intervals until 1886.

La Gare St. Lazare (1877)

Artist: Claude Monet

Nympheas (1915)

Artist: Claude Monet

Nympheas (1915)

Claude Monet

The Blue Dancers (1899) 

Artist: Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas is considered as one of the founders of impressionism, although he rejected the term 'impressionism' and preferred to settle with 'realist'. He was especially identified with the subject of dance, as more then half of his works depict dancers, along with racecourses and nudes, These works especially displayed his mastery to leave the impression of movement on a still image. One of his popular works, The Blue Dancers, has four female dancers in backstage, wearing the iconic blue dresses. Movement can be noticed in their arms. The angle from which the women are viewed is from a high, hidden place, as if Degas was painting in secret. His only goal was to capture the unique poses for a great impression. The colours of this painting play a major role. The blue hues are the dominant foundation of his work, while the browns in the dancers' hair further solidify the connection between hues with contrast. The artist wants us to witness an environment that we were never meant to see, hence its high-angled viewpoint, as if he was watching from a hidden place.

References

Anon, (2016). [online] Available at: Visual-arts-cork.com. (2016). La Grenouillere, Claude Monet: Analysis, Interpretation. [online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/la-grenouillere-monet.htm [Accessed 24 Dec. 2016]. [Accessed 24 Dec. 2016].

Kiama Art Gallery. (2016). Impressionism – Monet and Renoir, La Grenouillére (The Frog Pond), 1869. [online] Available at: https://kiamaartgallery.wordpress.com/2015/05/14/impressionism-monet-and-renoir-la-grenouillere-the-frog-pond-1869/ [Accessed 24 Dec. 2016].

The Art Story. (2016). Impressionism Movement, Artists and Major Works. [online] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-impressionism.htm [Accessed 14 Dec. 2016].

Visual-arts-cork.com. (2016). La Grenouillere, Claude Monet: Analysis, Interpretation. [online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/la-grenouillere-monet.htm [Accessed 24 Dec. 2016].