MODULE 9: 19th c. art in europe: Impressionism & Post Impressionism, Chapt. 27

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 Modules: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

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Impressionism- in terms of content, expressed the self-indulgence of bourgeois  (middle-class) life of urban Paris. What was radical about the imagery was the intense color, developed by science, which portrayed with ‘broken brushstrokes, the dappling of sunlight and shadow for a ‘sensation’ or impression of atmosphere painted plein aire (in the out-of-doors) rather than the studio developed, academic allegory paintings of Ancient Greek or Roman themes of the Neo-Classic artists.

Post-Impressionism- The late 19th and early 20th century was a time of intense change and social conflict. For most people in America and Europe, the experience of the 20th century offered an increasing optimism and opportunity. One view, Positivism, believed that human intellect and technological innovation could solve all problems. Other views believed that the solutions of the intellectual past were no longer effective, many sought answers in non-rational expressions of humanity. This interest led some of these artists to examine cultures that were for them exotic. The opening of Japan to the west for the first time in 600 years, created just such exotic influence in European art. World War One significantly changed the social/political scene creating a general cynicism for the answers of the past. Just prior to 1900, the work of the Post-Impressionists sought to break with the Impressionist themes and methods, to tap primitive life, conveying strong emotions by the choice and manipulation of color. Many of them emulated what they thought was the honesty of primitive life.

Impressionism-

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SLIDE:
Manet “The Luncheon on the Grass” (1863) Pl. 27-57

Edouard Manet’s painting “Luncheon on the Grass” was modern by a number of different aspects- his appropriation of art work from the past: his isolation of the figures from their environment, and in its refutation of excepted social mores.

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SLIDE:
Manet “Olympia” (1863) Pl. 27-58

Manet contributed to modern concepts of the mid-19th century with his portrait of a thoroughly modern woman whose indifferent gaze projects a view of feminine power radically different from traditional views of women. Vilified for his affront to proper sensibilities, he none the less became a leader of the group of artists who identified themselves as 'The Independants', were later to be named by critics as the Impressionists.

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SLIDE:
Manet “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” (1882) Pl. 27-66

Manet’s last major painting suggests a number of ideas. What the viewer is confronted with is the reality of a woman at her job as a bartender. The job is tiring and tedious, she must deal with the whims of intoxicated customers, their amorous advances, and the constant sameness of her toil. Her expression tells enough.

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SLIDE:
Monet “Terrace at Sainte-Adresse” (1867) Pl. 27-59

Claude Monet, the iconic Impressionist of sun-dappled bourgeois pleasures, was in constant conflict with his father over Monet’s choice to be an artist. In this early painting of Monet’s we see the family summer beach home with the father seated far away from Monet and his wife as they stand at the terrace wall.

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SLIDE:
Monet “Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (in sun)” (1894) Pl. 27-69

Here Monet presents the epitome of Impressionist sensation, with none of the hard edges of graphically drawn shapes, or little effort to convey three dimensional form with contrasting shadows, and with the emphasized ‘broken’ brushstroke typical of the Impressionist style.

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SLIDE:
Renior “Moulin de la Galette” (1876) Pl. 27-62

Unremarkable in painting technique, this painting portrays more the bourgeois pleasure of Parisian life that Renoir was so fond of. Dancing in gaslight lit parks until midnight, popular entertainment for the working public was becoming a significant element of cultural life in the late 19th century.

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SLIDE:
Degas “The Rehearsal on Stage” (1874) Pl. 27-63

Degas reveals in his paintings his relationship to his subjects, his special status allows him to be backstage with the dancers or on the race track with the horses. He always portrays not only the subject but also his privilege to their private moments.

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SLIDE:
Cassatt “Woman in a Loge” (1879) Pl. 27-64

American born Mary Cassatt also celebrated Parisian bourgeois life and all its pleasures. Many of her paintings conveyed domestic tranquility, the quiet spaces of the home.

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SLIDE:
Cassatt “Maternal Caress” (1891) Pl. 27-68

Here Cassett has adopted the newly introduced Japanese style of flat planes, textile patterns and simplified contours. This adoption of new styles shows her concern for innovation and radical change.

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Post-Impressionism-

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SLIDE:
Cezanne “Mont Sainte-Victoire” (1887) Pl. 27-70

Paul Cezanne was pivotal in the move from the Impressionist sensation of light and color to a more structural basis for exploring form. His abstractions of the Provencal landscape and especially Mount St. Victoire, gave rise to much of the later variations of abstraction, Cubism in particular.

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SLIDE:
Seurat “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (1886) Pl. 27-73

Another deviation from Impressionism was the abstract and analytical work of Georges Seurat. With strict systemic calculation he produced an art of distanced eloquence or cold detachment, depending on your aesthetic appetite.

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SLIDE:
van Gogh “The Starry Night” (1889) Pl. 27-74

The viewer’s first experience of “Starry Night” can be overwhelming. The swirling sky echoed in the intense brush stroke paint application is a captivating dance for the eyes. The motivation for Van Gogh’s painting is a bit more prosaic. Unstable and self-institutionalized, Van Gogh gazed out on a French landscape lonesome for home, so he painted the little Dutch village in the midst of this piece of France.

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SLIDE:
Gauguin “Day of the God” (1894) Pl. 27-75

Guaguin sought some echo of his own alienation in primitive cultures. His search led him to a romantic vision of the South Sea island of Tahiti. 125 years before his arrival, alcohol, syphilis and missionaries had destroyed the fragile native culture- so he painted it the way he thought it should be.

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SLIDE:
Rousseau “The Sleeping Gypsy” (1897) Pl. 27-78

Rousseau, much like Turner before him and Bacon after, was so unique in his expression that he doesn’t quite fit in any other genre. Contrary to the historic myth of his untutored naiveté, he was knowledgeable of the ongoing changes in avant- garde art at the turn of the 20th century, he was friends with many of the leading new artists of his time- his was a self-created art persona.

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SLIDE:
Munch "The Scream" (1893) Pl. 27-90

Norwegian artist Edvard Munch portrayed an interior landscape of self-torment and guilt-ridden sexuality. His work so achingly portrays his personal isolation from family and community.

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SLIDE:
Lautrec “Jane Avril” (1893) Pl. 27-85

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s short but vivid life was a part of a dramatically changing popular culture in Europe. The influence of other cultures was seen in many artists of the time. The decorative embellishments of the Art Nouveau movement touched both fine arts and crafts. Here in Lautrec’s lithograph poster, we see both the influence of Japanese design and Art Nouveau extravagances.

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