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IMPRESSIONISM

INTRODUCTION
Impressionism can be considered the first distinctly modern movement in painting.
Developing in Paris in the 1860s, its influence spread throughout Europe and eventually
the United States. Its originators were artists who rejected the official, government-
sanctioned exhibitions, or salons, and were consequently shunned by powerful
academic art institutions. In turning away from the fine finish and detail to which most
artists of their day aspired, the Impressionists aimed to capture the momentary, sensory
effect of a scene - the impression objects made on the eye in a fleeting instant. To
achieve this effect, many Impressionist artists moved from the studio to the streets and
countryside.

At the time, there were many ideas of what constituted modernity. Part of the
Impressionist idea was to capture a split second of life, an ephemeral moment in time
on the canvas: the impression.

The Impressionists loosened their brushwork and lightened their palettes to include
pure, intense colors. They abandoned traditional linear perspective and avoided the
clarity of form that had previously served to distinguish the more important elements of
a picture from the lesser ones. For this reason, many critics faulted Impressionist
paintings for their unfinished appearance and seemingly amateurish quality.

Impressionism records the effects of the massive mid-19 th century renovation of Paris
led by civic planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann, which included the city's newly
constructed railway stations; wide, tree-lined boulevards that replaced the formerly
narrow, crowded streets; and large, deluxe apartment buildings. The works that focused
on scenes of public leisure - especially scenes of cafés and cabarets - conveyed the
new sense of alienation experienced by the inhabitants of the first modern metropolis.

Impressionism emerged in France at the same time that a number of other painters,
including the Italian artists known as the Macchiaioli and Winslow Homer in the United
States were also exploring plein-air painting. The Impressionists, however, developed
new techniques specific to the style. Encompassing what its adherents argued was a
different way of seeing. It is an art of immediacy and movement, of candid poses and
compositions of the play of light expressed in a bright and varied use of colour.
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CHARACTERISTICS
Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin,
yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in
its changing qualities, ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial
element of human perception and experience and unusual visual angles. Some major
characteristics of Impressionism are discussed below:-

 Short, thick strokes of paint quickly capture the essence of the subject, rather
than its details. The paint is often applied impasto.

 Colours are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible, a technique

that exploits the principle of simultaneous contrast to make the colour appear
more vivid to the viewer.

 Grays and dark tones are produced by mixing complementary colours. Pure

impressionism avoids the use of black paint.

 Wet paint is placed into wet paint without waiting for successive applications
to dry, producing softer edges and intermingling of colour.

 Impressionist paintings do not exploit the transparency of thin paint films

(glazes), which earlier artists manipulated carefully to produce effects. The
impressionist painting surface is typically opaque.

 The paint is applied to a white or light-coloured ground. Previously, painters

often used dark grey or strongly coloured grounds.

 The play of natural light is emphasized. Close attention is paid to the

reflection of colours from object to object. Painters often worked in the
evening to produce effets de soir (the shadowy effects of evening or twilight).

 In paintings made en plein air (outdoors), shadows are boldly painted with the
blue of the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness
previously not represented in painting.
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FAMOUS ARTISTS OF IMPRESSIONISM

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OSCAR-CLAUDE MONET
Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840 in Paris, France and died on 5
December 1926. He was a French painter, founder of French Impressionist painting and
the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing
one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein air landscape
painting. The term "Impressionism" is derived from the title of his painting Impression,
soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which was exhibited in 1874 in the first of the
independent exhibitions mounted by Monet and his associates as an alternative to
the Salon de Paris.

On 1 April 1851, Monet entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts. Locals knew
him well for his charcoal caricatures, which he would sell for ten to twenty francs. Monet
also undertook his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard, a former
student of Jacques-Louis David. On the beaches of Normandy around 1856 he met
fellow artist Eugène Boudin, who became his mentor and taught him to use oil paints.
Boudin taught Monet "en plein air" (outdoor) techniques for painting. Both were
influenced by Johan Barthold Jongkind.

On 28 January 1857, his mother died. At the age of sixteen, he left school and went to
live with his widowed, childless aunt, Marie-Jeanne Lecadre.

From the late 1860s, Monet and other like-minded artists met with rejection from the
conservative Académie des Beaux-Arts, which held its annual exhibition at the Salon de
Paris. During the latter part of 1873, Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro,
and Alfred Sisley organized the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs et
graveurs (Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers) to exhibit their
artworks independently. At their first exhibition, held in April 1874, Monet exhibited the
work that was to give the group its lasting name. He was inspired by the style and
subject matter of previous modern painters Camille Pissarro and Edouard Manet .

Impression, Sunrise was painted in 1872, depicting a Le Havre port landscape. From

the painting's title the art critic Louis Leroy, in his review, "L” Exposition des
Impressionnistes," which appeared in Le Charivari, coined the term "Impressionism". It
was intended as disparagement but the Impressionists appropriated the term for
themselves.
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IMPRESSION, SOLEIL LEVANT (SUNRISE)

Impression, soleil levant, Sunrise is a painting by Claude Monet first shown at what

would become known as the "Exhibition of the Impressionists" in Paris in April, 1874.
The painting is credited with inspiring the name of the Impressionist movement.

Monet claimed that he titled the painting Impression, Sunrise due to his hazy painting
style in his depiction of the subject: "They asked me for a title for the catalogue, it
couldn't really be taken for a view of Le Havre, and I said: 'Put Impression.'

Impression, Sunrise depicts the port of Le Havre at sunrise, the two small rowboats in
the foreground and the red Sun being the focal elements. In the middle ground, more
fishing boats are included, while in the background on the left side of the painting are
clipper ships with tall masts. Behind them are other misty shapes that "are not trees but
smoke stacks of pack-boats and steamships, while on the right in the distance are other
masts and chimneys silhouetted against the sky." In order to show these features of
industry, Monet eliminated existing houses on the left side of the jetty, leaving the
background un-obscured.

The hazy scene of Impression, Sunrise strayed from traditional landscape painting and
classic, idealized beauty. Paul Smith suggested that with this style, Monet meant to
express "other beliefs about artistic quality which might be tied to the ideologies being
consolidated by the emergent bourgeoisie from which he came." Loose brush strokes
meant to suggest the scene rather than to mimetically represent it demonstrate the
emergent Impressionist movement. In the wake of an emergent industrialization in
France, this style expressed innovative individuality.
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SUNSET IN VENICE

The painting “Sunset in Venice” by Claude Monet belongs to the National Museum of
Cardiff (The National Art Gallery of Wales). It was painted in oil in 1908.

This method helps not to create a naive impression of the picture and the scene that it
represents. Later he said that he would like to get the experience of a blind person who
suddenly gets the opportunity to see everything for the first time. “Sunset in Venice” (a
vivid example of the work of the impressionist). The painting was created when Monet
and his wife Alice were traveling in their own car through Venice. The first time they
stayed at the Palazzo Barbaro, and then at the Hotel Brittany.

It was there that he created this masterpiece. When Monet created this marine scenic
landscape, he began to lose his sight because of a cataract. As well as many other
artists who were amazed by eye disease, this provoked him to create true
masterpieces. Bright blue, yellow and red colors were used by Monet to depict the
sunset in Venice. Across the lagoon, we see Venice and the church on the Venetian
island.
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THE WATER LILY POND

‘The Water Lily Pond’ was painted by Claude Monet, in 1899.

Claude Monet’s artwork shows a typical impressionist approach through his subject
matter being the water lily pond and bridge in his backyard. He uses the water lily pond
and bridge as the main focus of the artwork with an array of different shades of green in
the background to allow the viewer to infer a large bush area behind the pond. This is a
typical impressionists approach to art, making as Monet has used still life and nature in
his artwork through the water lily garden and bridge. 

Claude Monet’s artwork shows a typical impressionist approach through its use of light
with limited amount of shade, even where there should be darkness Monet recreates it
by implementing light through color. For example, in the background of leaf foliage it
should be darker as the image looks further into the foliage however Monet uses bright
greens even in the background, which makes the image, appear lighter. This is a typical
approach to impressionist art making as Monet uses light everywhere in his painting
without any shade, black and brown.
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ROUEN CATHEDRAL

Monet painted more than thirty views of Rouen Cathedral in 1892-93. When Monet
painted the Rouen Cathedral series, he had long since been impressed with the way
light imparts to a subject a distinctly different character at different times of the day and
the year and as atmospheric conditions change. For Monet, the effects of light on a
subject became as important as the subject itself. 

This one - Rouen Cathedral, Full Sunlight - is an atmospheric piece, which was
probably worked on alongside other canvases of different views of the historic building
at the same time. The series of paintings provides an inspiring collection of works of the
cathedral at different times of the day and also provides a record of the artist's
experiences with light and atmosphere - a fascinating insight into what Monet was
actually experiencing.
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ÉDOUARD MANET

Édouard Manet was born on 23 January 1832 in Paris, France and died on 30 April
1883. He was born into an upper-class family with strong political connections. He
rejected the future originally envisioned for him and became engrossed in the world of
painting. His mother, Eugénie-Desirée Fournier was the daughter of a diplomat and
goddaughter of the Swedish crown prince Charles Bernadotte from whom the Swedish
monarchs are descended. His father, Auguste Manet was a French judge who expected
Édouard to pursue a career in law. His uncle, Edmond Fournier encouraged him to
pursue painting and took young Manet to the Louvre. In 1841, he enrolled at secondary
school, the Collège Rollin. In 1845 at the advice of his uncle, Manet was enrolled in a
special course of drawing where he met Antonin Proust, future Minister of Fine Arts and
subsequent lifelong friend.

At his father's suggestion, in 1848 he sailed on a training vessel to Rio de Janeiro. After
he twice failed the examination to join the Navy, his father relented to his wishes to
pursue an art education. From 1850 to 1856, Manet studied under the academic
painter Thomas Couture. In his spare time, Manet copied the Old Masters in the Louvre.

From 1853 to 1856, Manet visited Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, during which
time he was influenced by the Dutch painter Frans Hals and the Spanish artists Diego
Velázquez and Francisco José de Goya.

In 1856, Manet opened a studio. His style in this period was characterized by loose
brush strokes, simplification of details and the suppression of transitional tones.
Adopting the current style of realism initiated by Gustave Courbet, he painted The
Absinthe Drinker (1858–59) and other contemporary subjects such as beggars, singers,
Gypsies, people in cafés and bullfights. After his early career, he rarely painted
religious, mythological or historical subjects.

Manet had two canvases accepted at the Salon in 1861. A portrait of his mother and
father, who at the time was paralyzed and robbed of speech by a stroke, was ill-
received by critics. The other, The Spanish Singer was admired by Theophile Gautier,
and placed in a more conspicuous location as a result of its popularity with Salon-goers.
Manet's work, which appeared "slightly slapdash" when, compared with the meticulous
style of so many other Salon paintings, intrigued some young artists.