Lesson 1:

Rendering the
Neutral World
in New Ways
Lesson 1: Rendering the Neutral World
New Ways
Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet
 More
Examples
of
Impressio
nism
HISTORY
 Impressionism
Impressionism developed in France in the nineteenth century and is
based on the practice of painting out of doors and spontaneously
‘on the spot’ rather than in a studio from sketches. Main impressionist
subjects were landscapes and scenes of everyday life
 What makes the
artworks of the
impressionists
and post-
impressionists
“modern?”
 Example of
Impressionists
Edouard Manet Claude Monet

Camille Pissarro
The Post-Impressionists
 Vincent
van Gogh
Is a self-taught Dutch artist from Antwerp. He went
to France and got acquainted with the French
avant-garde artists such as Pissarro, Georges
Seurat, Henri Toulouse Lautrec, and Emile Bernard.
Irises by Vincent van Gogh
 Paul
Gaugin
Depicted local floral and fauna and people from
Tahiti. Back then, cultures that where non-European
and non-American were considered backward and
primitive. Gaugin wrote that art does not imitate
nature and that artist should see nature only as a
point of departure.
 Henri
Matisse
He and a group of artist exhibited in a salon in
1905. Their painting characterized by vivid colors
that had no regard for the subject’s actual colors.
Harmony in Red(Red Room) by
Paul Matisse
Important Terms
impasto Paint is laid on an area of the surface very thickly,
usually enough that the paint tends to look embossed;
paint can also be mixed right on the canvas with no
attempt to conceal the strokes
spatial depth Illusion that the space on the canvas is three dimensional
and has depth extending from the foreground to the
background.
salon Expositions of fine art under the academies of fine art to
Europe; usually where awards are given to exemplary
artist who show their masterpieces
luminosity Perception of light on painting due to amount of
brightness
gradation of Principle of emphasis and subordination when the artist
emphasis places figures of varying scale, contrast, and implied
movement to allow the eye to perceive certain elements
prominently
compositional Use of different elements and principles of art to create
variety variety
asymmetrical One part carries heavier visual weight than the other
composition
Impasto
Spatial Depth
Salon
Luminosity
Gradation of emphasis
Compositional Variety
Asymmetrical composition