Birth of Modern Art
Edouard Manet
Edouard Manet
Music in the Tuileries Gardens
1862
Edouard Manet
Luncheon on the Grass
1863
Edouard Manet
Luncheon on the Grass
1863
Giorgione / Titian
Pastoral Concert
c. 1510
Edouard Manet
Luncheon on the Grass
1863
Marcantonio Raimondi
Judgement of Paris
c. 1515
Edouard Manet
The Railroad
1872-73
Impressionism
IMPRESSIONISM
- How did the term Impressionism come about?
- When did this movement develop?
- Who were the artists involved in this movement?
- What were their aims?
- How was their style(s) like?
Sketch
Lack of realism
IMPRESSION
Blurred
A moment in time
Vague
Quick/fast
Claude Monet
Impression: Sunrise
1872
Oil on canvas, 48 x 63cm
Claude Monet
Impression: Sunrise
1872
Claude Lorrain
Seaport with the embarkation of
the queen of sheba
1648
Subject: Misty
view of seaport at
sunrise
Hurried &
vigorous
brushwork/dabs
Predominant use
of orange
Dispersed/ allover composition
AIM: To
capture an
instantaneous
sensation -- the
shimmering
surface of
water, caring
less about
detail.
This work changed the concept of a ‘completed’
artwork. A ‘sketch’ is now deemed by Monet as
worthy of exhibiting
No distinction
between
foreground, middle
ground nor
background.
Claude Monet
Impression: Sunrise
1872
“What does the canvas depict? Look at the
catalogue.”
“Impression: Sunrise”
“Impression -- I was sure of it. I was just telling
myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be
some impression in it… and what freedom, what
ease of workmanship! Wall-paper in its embryonic
state is more finished than this seascape.”
~ Louis Leroy
Impressionist’s Pursuit -- Ever-changing Light
Invention of oil paints packaged in air-tight tubes
allowed the Impressionists to paint outdoors
The Key Impressionists
Claude Monet
(1840 -- 1926)
Edgar Degas
(1834 -- 1917)
Auguste Renoir
(1841 -- 1919)
Mary Cassatt
(1844 -- 1926)
Camille Pissarro
(1830 -- 1903)
Some Examples of work by the Impressionists
2 main groups:
- Landscape: Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley
- Figure: Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt
Aim:
• Objective transcription of the world
• To study the effect of light on objects & people.
General Characteristics of
Impressionists:
• - Clear, bright colours
~ Concept of complementary
colours
• - Short, choppy brushwork / dabs
• - ‘Snapshot’ composition
• - Sketchy quality
Claude Monet
The Poppy Field
1873
Oil on canvas
The Influence of Japanese Woodcut prints on Impressionist artists
Hokusai Katsushika
Great Wave off Kanagawa
1823-9
Hiroshige Ando
Cherry Blossom at Arashiyama
Impressionists applied the flat, bright
colors, and asymmetrical
compositions of woodcuts to their
paintings.
Kitagawa Utamaro
The Three Models
Leader of the Impressionists
Claude Monet
1840 -1926
Claude Monet
Bathing at La Grenouillere
1869
Claude Monet
Bathing at La Grenouillere
1869
Detail
Claude Monet
La Grenouillere
1869
Oil on canvas, 74.6 × 99.7 cm
Claude Monet
The Rue Montorgueil, Paris
1878
Oil on canvas, 81x50cm
Detail
1880s, Monet began to experiment with
series of pictures that allowed him to
capture the changes from one time to
another.
- Devoted himself to capturing the flux of
nature
Series:
Trains arriving at the Gare Saint Lazare,
Rouen Cathedral, haystacks, poplars and
waterlilies
The changing conditions of light – affected
by atmosphere, time of day, and season
remained his theme
Claude Monet
Rouen Cathedral Series
1890
http://www.learn.columbia.edu/monet/swf/
Claude Monet
Haystacks Series
1891
Claude Monet
Water Lilies
1906