IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS
It is often said that art is a mirror of the society, and impressionist paintings are no exception.
Developed in the 19th century, the Impressionist style of painting encompassed themes drawn
from ordinary life and outdoors, reflecting the prevalent socio-economic and political conditions
in contrast to the previous themes drawn from within the walls of the studio - still life, portraits
and landscapes. Paintings from this era saw bold use of the brush with highly visible brush
strokes, and the changing effects of the qualities of light were stressed upon. Gustave Caillebotte,
Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas were some of the impressionist painters who incorporated the
techniques of Impressionism in their art work. Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris: A Rainy Day,
Edouard Manet’s The Bar at the Folies Bergere and Edgar Degas’s L’Absinthe are some of the
renowned works of art from this period that give us a glimpse into the 19th century Parisian
society.
Characteristic of all Impressionist paintings, Gustave Caillebotte draws his theme from outdoor
landscape in his painting Paris: A Rainy Day. Created in 1877, this painting is a window to
urban life in Paris in the latter half of the 19th century. The scene is that of a rain swept sidewalk
in Paris at a crossing near Gare Saint-Lazare. This painting has been quoted as the “great picture
of urban life in the late 19th century”. (Gloria Gloom, 1995, Chicago Sun-Times)
At the very first look, bourgeois conformity (as existent six years after the suppression of the
Commune) is evident. The viewer’s attention is first focused on a fashionably dressed couple
with black umbrella at the right foreground, while another half-cropped man, with the same
black umbrella and his back towards the viewer approaches the couple. In the backdrop are more
people, identically dressed with identical black umbrellas, the products of industrial capitalism.
Even the buildings in the backdrop of the painting, the residences of the bourgeois are seemingly
identical. This is the scene after Baron Haussmann undertook the task of modernization of Paris
under the orders of Napoleon III. This aim, however served as a veil to repress the working class.
When the viewer looks at the painting, he is drawn to the unusual perspective. The foreground is
sharp and appears to be tilted towards the viewer, while the backdrop becomes gradually
indistinct thereby beautifully creating an impression of the rainy conditions. One important
aspect of the painting is the conspicuous void at the centre of the painting. Parallels have been
drawn from this void to the existing social conditions - “There is an emptiness at the centre of
things
that
the
bourgeois
can
neither
fill
nor
conceal”
(Brian
O.
Bard,
www.sites.google.com/sites/beautyandterror)
Beyond the veil of bourgeois conformity, the painting also depicts the worker class, unprotected
by umbrellas in this inclement weather. There is the carriage driver on the left of the painting,
and another carriage driver in front of the massive building in the middle background, a man
without an umbrella walking across the street in near the same building, a workman carrying a
ladder across the street partly revealed behind the umbrella of a woman in the backdrop of the
central bourgeois couple in the foreground. Their forms, unobtrusive and partially concealed by
the bourgeois, are a metaphor for the society at the time.
Another great art work from the Impressionist Era, Edouard Manet’s The Bar at the Folies
Bergere also draws its theme from the world outside the studio. The painting takes the viewer to
an upscale Paris nightclub – the Folies Bergere. At the centre of all happenings and at the centre
of the painting stands Suzon, the barmaid, behind the bar. The viewer views the happenings in
the club through a hazy mirror behind her, looking from the eyes of a customer facing Suzon.
Reflected in the mirror are the people in the balcony behind the customer who look on at the
trapeze artist (implied by the pair of green shoes at the top left corner of the painting) performing
in the restaurant. The dressing of the people in the balcony suggests a bourgeois clientele.
Further, to create an illusion of space and depth in the enclosed space, Manet shows the
reflections of a crystal chandelier and a bulb from yet another mirror, using the Impressionist
technique of the changing qualities and color of light.
A closer examination reveals the inconsistency in the reflection and reality. For instance, the
reflection of Suzon instead of appearing directly behind her is displaced to the right. Further, the
bottles on the bar and in the reflection appear to be different. But all these discrepancies can be
interpreted to have a double meaning regarding the prevalent conditions in Paris, revealing the
creative genius of Manet. In a discussion on this artwork, Jonathen Jones wrote in The Guardian
on October 21, 2000 “The dislocation of Suzon's world is deliberate. Paris is a hall of mirrors
where Suzon floats helplessly, clinging to her bar” (Jonathan Jones, 2000, The Guardian).
Following the same lines as Manet’s painting, Edgar Degas’s L’Absinthe, meaning The Absinthe
Drinker takes the viewer to a 19th century café in Paris. However, the opulence and luxury is
missing from Degas’s painting. Ellen Andree, an actress and Marcellin Desboutin, an artist-cumbohemian character worked as models for this artwork. This painting employs the artist’s
favorite technique of putting the central figures off centre. Focused at the centre is a woman, who
sits slumped looking dully at a glass of green liquid on the table. The liquid is thought to be
absinthe, a drink-drug highly popular in Paris in that period. To her left sits a shabbily dressed
man looking right, out of the painting. His drink is a glass of brown liquid, interpreted to be a
remedy for hangover from absinthe. Though they sit at the same table, they appear to be
strangers who seem to share nothing in common. Thus, the painting also provides a glimpse of
the societal isolation existent in Paris during the years of brisk progress.
In the late 19th century, absinthe had become highly popular in France. Also called as the green
fairy, it drew individuals from the working class as well as the intellectual circles to drown their
troubles in a glass of absinthe. This drink drug was deemed responsible for the instability and
degradation, and alcoholism in the society. When exhibited in England, critics viewed this
painting as a lesson against absinthe. However, Degas appears to take an impassive view. He
neither appears to endorse nor condemn absinthe. He simply portrays a scene from erstwhile
Paris where absinthe was greatly popular. With his bold brush strokes and vivid color usage,
Degas gives an unbiased, artistic view of another aspect of Paris.
All the three paintings thus are a window to the 19th century urban life in Paris. Characteristic of
all impressionist paintings, they employ the technique of reflecting the happenings in the society
around them. While Manet depicts the luxurious lifestyle of the bourgeois, Degas portrays the
shabbiness of the working class. Gustave Caillebotte includes both classes in his paintings,
although the working class is highly inconspicuous. However, each painting is unique in its own
different way and includes the artist own style. While Degas and Caillebotte both set their central
figures off centre, Manet puts his central figure at the middle of the painting. Degas makes use of
bold brush strokes and vivid colors, while Gustave Caillebotte’s painting is not so vivid. Further,
in Paris: A Rainy Day the outlines are sharp in the foreground and hazy in the backdrop, while in
the other two paintings, the outlines are indistinct. However, they all converge at one point –
they all portray the social segregation in Paris of the nineteenth century.
References1. Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street: A Rainy Day, retrieved on July 6, 2009 from
http://sites.google.com/site/beautyandterror/Home/bourgeoisie-and-proletariat
2. Gustave Caillebotte's Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1876-77, retrieved on July 6,2009 from
http://www.artic.edu/artexplorer/search.php?tab=2&resource=364
3. A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, Edouard Manet (1882), retrieved on July 6,2009 from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2000/oct/21/art
4. Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere, retrieved on July 6, 2009 from
http://sites.google.com/site/beautyandterror/Home/capitalism-and-the-death
5. L’ Absinthe-Degas, retrieved on July 6,2009 from http://labsinthedegas.blogspot.com/
6. Role of Parisian Café in Emergence of Modern Art: An analysis of the nineteenth century
café as a social institution and symbol of modern life, retrieved on July 6,2009 from
http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0903102-153114/unrestricted/Dees_thesis.pdf