Impressionism
1870-1900s
http://encyclopedian.com/i/Impres
sionism.htm
Vocabulary
 Academic convention; Bourgeois; Art critique
 Studio, Salon, Exhibition
 Complementary colour
 Optical mixing
 Spectrum colours
 Synthetic pigment
Vocabulary
 Shimmer,
 Open composition
 Instantaneity
 Cropping
 ‘En plein air’
 Palette
 Atmosphere
Vocabulary
 Transitory effect
 Luminosity
 Mechanical grinding
 Co-operative
Emergence of Impressionist style
 1860s artists’ cooperative formed
 Rejected academic convention of:
1.Deferring to the antique in subject matter
2 Priming the canvas with dark undertones
3 Painting in darkened studio,
instead
1.Chose the modern era as subject matter
2.Painted directly onto unprimed canvas
3.Painted out of doors (en plein air)
Key Artists
 Claude Monet (1840-1926)
 Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
 Edgar Degas (1843-1917)
 Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
 August Renoir (1841-1919)
 Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
 Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)
Sculpture
 Pierre Auguste Rodin
 1840-1917
 Danaid the source 1891
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/toulouse-lautrec/
 Toulouse Lautrec 1864-1901
 1891 Moulin Rouge
Lithographs
Pierre Auguste Rodin
http://www.rodinmuseum.org/collections/permanent/103358.html?mulR=25374|105
Age of Bronze
1875-77
Modelled 1925 cast
The Burghers of Calais 1874
Toulouse –Lautrec 1864 -1901
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/toulouse-lautrec/
Ambassadeurs 1872
Lithograph
Moulin Rouge two
ladies 1892 oil on
cardboard
Materials
 Un primed canvases
 Poppy seed oil instead
of linseed oil
 Spectrum colours
 Synthetic pigments
 Square headed brushes
 Tubes of colour
 Pastels
http://www.impressionism.org/atelier.htm
Techniques
 Only spectrum colours were used
 Paint was applied in looser distinct
brush strokes rather than blending
 Uniform loading of the brush
Techniques
 Paint was applied on pale/white
canvasses
 Out of doors rather than studio based
 Coloured shadows were created using
complementary colours-no black
Historical context- Art and Power
 Rise of bourgeois society in Paris mid
18thC
 Role of the Academy and Salon
 Rise of art critiques
Historical context- Art and Power
 Influences from Japanese Art
 Forerunners: Eduard Manet, Gustave
Courbet
 Napoleon III – the Salon des Refuses
 Baron Haussmann- city planner
Gustave Caillebotte ‘Rainy Day in Paris’1877
Social History
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/caillebotte/
What does this image reveal about the city?
Napoleon III – Salon des Refuses
Googleimages
Influences of Japanese Art - Woodblocks
 Familiar scenes
interiors, street views
 Dramatic cropping
 Unusual perspectives
 Areas of contrasting
colours
http://ahistoryofgraphicdesign.blogspot.ie/2011/03/art-nouveau.html
Gutave Courbet Burial at Ornans 1850
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/courbet/ornans.jpg
Why does this painting not represent the established
canons of Academic art?
Eduard Manet ‘ Dejeuner sur L’herbe’1863
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Manet,_Edouard_Le_D%C3%A9jeuner_sur_l%27Herbe_(The_Picnic)_(1).jpg
How does this painting not represent the established
Academic canons?
Industrial / Scientific innovations
 Manufacture of tin for paint tubes rather than a
pig’s bladder (see image A next slide)
 Mechanical grinding of pigments
 Expansion of the railways
 Expansion of trade with the East
 Scientific discoveries of colour mixing B
 Photography - Nadar’s studio C
Tube paint could be used outdoors…
how would this affect artists? A
http://0.tqn.com/d/painting/1/0/M/N/2/Winsor-Newton-tube-developm.jpg
Eugene Chevreul’s colour
wheel B
1786-1889
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadar_(photographer)
Honoré Daumier C
1863
EXHIBITIONS 1874-
 1st exhibition held in studio of the photographer Nadar
Claude Monet,
Berthe Morisot,
August Renoir,
Alfred Sisley …..
 this was where an art critic called Monet’s work ‘Sunrise’ oh no merely an
“impression”
 7 more exhibitions occurred where the other members
exhibited
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
‘Impression- Sunrise’ 1872
How is complementary colour used here?
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impressionism/
Different strokes used to paint
‘Impression sunrise’
http://painting.about.com/od/famouspainters/ss/monet-impression-sunrise-painting_2.htm
Aerial Perspective- note how the 3 boats become
lighter in tone
Claude Monet 1840-1926
What is the dominant theme?
What type of brushstroke is used?
How is the light captured?
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/16564?search_no=11&index=27
Stacks of Wheat 1890 courtesy Chicago Institute of Art
Water lily Pond
1900
Branch of the
Seine 1897
Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/citi/images/standard/WebLarge/WebImg_000129/44322_1320173.jpg
How is the countryside portrayed?
Camille Pissarro 1830-1903
1. How does Pissarro treat the
weather conditions?
2. Discuss his use of perspective
3. How are the figures portrayed?
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pissarro/hoarfrost.jpg
Stage Coach 1870
Orchard 1872
Hoarfrost 1873
Edgar Degas 1843-1917
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/degas/ballet/degas.ballet-rehearsal.jpg
‘The Rehearsal’1875
Why did Degas chose to paint dancers so
Edgar Degas 1843-1917
1. What lifestyle is portrayed here?
2. What is common in all the compositions?
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/degas/
Absinthe Miss La La
At the Races 1872
Berthe Morisot 1841-1895
List 3 features that indicate this is an Impressionist work
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/morisot/
1. What is the common theme?
2. Describe her use of brushstroke
3. Is there an emotional quality to these paintings? What is it?
Berthe Morisot 1841-1895
On the
Balcony
The Cradle In a Park 1874
August Renoir 1841-1919
The Umbrellas 1861-68
 Two types of
brushstroke
appear here, explain
 Discuss the use of
complementary colour
http://www.nationalgalleryimages.co.uk/Imagedetails.aspx?q=NG326
August Renoir 1841-1919
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/renoir/land/dejeuner-canotiers/renoir.dejeuner-canotiers.jpg
1.These paintings have leisure for a theme how does
Renoir convey this?
2.How does he create light in these images
3 Discuss his treatment of the face
Luncheon of the
Boating Party 1881
La Loge
1874
The Swing
1886
Mary Cassatt 1844-1926
‘Summertime’ 1893-94
Describe how the artist
rendered the waves and
the shadow cast by the
boat?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_Cassatt_002.jpg
Mary Cassatt 1844-1926
http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/chester_dale_collection/cdc_nga_2010-11_25.htm
http://article.wn.com/view/2010/05/07/Mary_Cassatts_impressive_work_as_printmaker_on_display/
1. What is the common theme?
2. Discuss the use of colour?
La Loge 1882
’The Bath’ 1893
Alfred Sisley 1839-1899
’The Flood at Port Malay’ 1886
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Sisley
This artist is famous for landscapes what do think is the
appeal of landscapes?
Alfred Sisley 1839-1899
http://www.michaelarnoldart.com/Alfred_Sisley.htm
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/rtas/artwork/paintings-by-alfred-sisley1.htm
1.How does the artist use colour to convey the Seasons?
2.These paintings are called…………
Autumn Banks of the Seine
1863
...take 1 Impressionist painting
Common factors
 Everyday scene
 Loose open brushwork
 Pale ground
 Captures the play of
sun light through the
steam
 Use of complementary
colours i.e. blue/orange
Gare St. Lazare
By Monet
….take 1 Impressionist painting
Light and Figures
 Dappled light created by
 Pale ground (canvas)
 Loose open brushstroke
 The shadows are
reflected light greens/
blues
 The figures are at leisure,
a common theme among
the Impressionists
 A momentary glimpse.
figures are not posing ‘The Swing’ 1886 Renoir
…take 1 Impressionist painting
Female artists
 Mary Cassatt and
 Berthe Morisot
 Themes were of intimate
family /friendship
moments
 Figures were not
idealised but
contemporarily
represented
 Similar technique for
colour and brushwork
‘The Bath’ 1893 Mary Cassatt
…..take 1 impressionist painting
Composition and colour
 Unusual perspective
 cropped scene
 diagonal focus -
energy
 Costume is pale blue
against the orange
interior i.e. use of
complementary colours
 green interior
architecture against the
red-use of contrasting
colours
Miss La La
Degas
... take the WORD Impressionism
Industrial revolution ,instantaneous light
Monet, Eduard Manet, Modern era of 1860s, 70s 80s
Photography, Paris ,Pleasure seeking, Poppy seed oil
Rendering sunlight and shadow, rebelling conventions ,railways
Exhibitions 1874, eight (8) in total
Salon des Refuses
Spectrum colours
Invention of metal tube for carrying paint
Optical mixing
New subjects-Boating, Dancing, Night club (Moulin Rouge)
Interest in Complementary colours
Square headed brush, Shadows of coloured light
Mechanised grinding of colour
Resources
 http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/france/picfrance_1.pdf
 http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/
 http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html
 http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/search?q=IMPRESSIONIST+
PAINTINGS&filter=paintings excellent zoomable imageshttp:
 //www.rodinmuseum.org/
 ‘A Guide to Art’ ed Sandro Sproccati ( Little Brown and Co.)
 ‘Techniques of the Impressionists’ Anthea Callan (Tiger Books)
Acknowledgements
Art Associates
Maria Moore
Margaret O’Shea
Local Facilitator Team
Aine Andrews
Joe Caslin
Jane Campbell
Siobhan Campbell
Niamh O’Donoghue
Niamh O’Neill
Keith O’Rahilly
Sheena McKeon
Tony Morrissey
Monica White
Many thanks to the following for their invaluable contribution to the European
Art History and Appreciation series of workshops and resource materials.
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Cultural & Environmental Education
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12. impressionism