Impressionism -Art

Impressionism began in the late 1860's in France with a group of friends. The group included Manet, Pissarro, Sisley and Degas, they called themselves the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, and so on. In 1814 they exhibited together at the photographer Nadar's former Studio.

Nadar Studio at 35 Boulevard des Capucines

 The building was modern and the paintings were too. Pictures of contemporary life painted in a technique that looked unfinished to the art critics and general public.


The seeds of Impressionism were sewn in the early 1860's by Manet, who stopped following traditions.

Oil On Canvas 54 x 65cm The Grand Canal of Venice (1875) -Edouard Manet

 Manet made this painting during a trip to Venice in 1875. He used bright colours, mostly based on blue. He also used broken brushstrokes technique to create that reflection in the water, it also represents the mood of a nice and calm day in summer. In the painting the artist created a focal point that goes on boat, this is because he painted it smoothly and realistic when everywhere around has that sort of texture of the brush and lines of the poles leading your eyes to the centre.

I link Manet's painting with Claude Monet -'Bathing at La Grenouillere'

Oil on white primed Canvas 73 x 93cm Bathing at La Grenouillere (1869) - Monet Claude

 This popular place which is found in the west of Paris is known for rest and relaxation. There's a capture of light in water and is also seen from contemporary life subject. There's a cool shade of the trees that contrasted with the shine bright of the sunlight to the open water of the river. The figures are sketched in with the brush. The brush marks indicate the wideness of each stroke, that are between 1-2cm each, of course from one to another the stroke size varies.  The brush work is strongly descriptive, catching the character of different forms that's what I mostly find similar from Manet's work to Monet's of this decade.    


Manet was struck by Japanese prints as Charles Baudelaire encouraged him to be a 'painter of modern life'.

In the century that followed the true value of his work became appreciated across the world. The inspiration he gave to the impressionists to lone makes Edouard Manet one of the greatest figures in the history of art.

Impressionism is characterized by its interest in the effects of light. Light gives the main of the subject in fact colour and light are directly linked. 


Impressionists painters depicted scenes from daily life like the artists that painted 'en plain-air', paintings were normally small to allow for completion on the spot, like the one of Alfred Sisley 'Flood at port-Marly' (1876). 

'Flood at port-Marly' (1876) -A. Sisley

 This is a landscape painting by Sisley. The painting permits the capture of fleeting moments. It's representing the reflection of light in water and rain heavy sky, the colour is muted  with touch of tones. The brushstrokes show different textures of light and of the landscape. Sisley composed his view into a frame with square blocks of pigment in the window panes. He used the trees on the right to balance the tall mass of the building. The dark figures with small boats help our eye mark the distance into background. 

'The Art and Life' (1926-2011) -George Fenech 

Here I linked the work with a Maltese artist, George Fenech which used the category of landscaping but as you directly notice the technique way he used was with a thick brush stroke which results to boldness. The artist created shadows on building that shows were the sun is directing.



The Impressionists were strongly influenced by the Realists who had moved away from the themes of academic art.

Oil on Cnvas 466 x 773cm 'The Romance of Decadence' (1847) -Thomas Couture

In the painting Couture has placed a group of debauched revelers, exhausted and disillusioned or still drinking and dancing. They were greedy and packed with food, they were also a culture of waste because they were living in the middle class luxury. The architecture around them are all uprights and horizontal that created a perfect geometry. But the figures are in an indulgent positions with curves, horizontal and arabesque. It feels like there's no space. In the painting there's also a clarity of line and shadow in the foreground.  




Impressionists were also influenced by the Japanese Prints. They were simple and bold Japanese woodblock print: Bright handling of colours, imrecise treatment of space and lack of modeling with diagonal lines in them.

Monet wasn't the only artist that was influenced by Japanese prints. Van Gogh made his own version of Hiroshige's 'Sudden Shower at Atake'. 

Two versions of 'Sudden Shower at Atake' -Hiroshige and Van Gogh

West was influenced by Japanese art and Western art had a huge influence on Japanese print makers. So the century turned to two new movements in Japanese print making. Bright handling colours and precision of space with lack of modelling was born.

Developments in Photography also influenced the Impressionists.

The first experiment with photography took 8 hours long of exposure, this was in 1826.

World's First Photograph

Here I put a video from youtube called 'World's Oldest Photographs' with the old photographs included will give you a hint of information about it, of what's going on in the picture and the name including the date of it. I found this interesting because from a year to another you'll see what going and the difference between a photograph to another.

In 1880 George Eastman enabled him to direct his Eastman Kodak company, this was the first invention of films (cameras), which helped photography to get to the mainstream. 

This is a brief history of George Eastman that describes in detail the process of how the photography used to be worked out, it follows his life and career and all his revolutionary impact on Photography.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfhsM15nElM

  
Paris was the centre of artistic activity, several artists visited Paris and acquired knowledge of Impressionism whilst there.




Reference:
Beth Gersh-Nesic, 2014. The First Impressionists Exhibition-1874. [Online] Available at: <http://arthistory.about.com/od/first_eight_exhibitions/a/first_Impressionism_exhibition.htm> [Accessed 6th March 2014]

 Wikimedia Commons, 2012. The Grand Canal of Venice (Blue Venice). [Online] available at: <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_grand_canal_of_Venice_%28Blue_Venice%29_-_Edouard_Manet.png> [Accessed 6th March 2014]

Web Museum,Paris, 2002. 'Bathing at La Grenouillere' - Monet Claude. [Online] Available at: <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/monet/early/bathing/> [Accessed 6th March 2014]

M.Power, 2010. 'Worlds Oldest Photography'. [Video Online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LkaFCa29mQ> [Accessed 6th March 2014]

Tools to Inpire Imagination, 2004-14. History of Photography: Niepce Pictures. [Online] Available at: <http://akvis.com/en/articles/photo-history/niepce.php> [Accessed 6th March 2014]

. About Kodak -George Eastman. [Online] Available at: <http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Our_Company/History_of_Kodak/George_Eastman.htm> [Accessed 6th March 2014]

Musee d'Orsay, 2006. Thomas Couture- Romans during the Decadence .[Online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire/commentaire_id/romans-during-the-decadence-2105.html?no_cache=1&cHash=ca15e83794> [Accessed 6th March 2014]