PPT on impressionism by Pabitra Mazumder

1. Impressionism
(1870-1890)
Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Sisley
,Bazille, Pissarro, Mary Cassatt

2. The individual subjective view:
Constitutes the greatest revolution in the visual art in the era of Modernism.
Impressionism:
The Impressionists in general are known for painting out of doors in a direct
and painterly manner. It is a movement which had its beginnings in Paris
among a group of artists who knew each other.
The name scathingly given to the movement in 1874 by Louis Leroy (an art
critic) on viewing a painting of Monet called Impression Sunrise.
The exhibition caused a great stir among the viewers and the participants of
this group were Degas, Pissarro, Cezanne, Renoir, Monet, Sisley and Morisot
Aimed not at painting the idealized version of the external world, but an attempt
to establish an immediate impression

3. Precursors & Influences
The Impressionists did not suddenly appear as an isolated phenomenon.
19th
C. Precursors: Romantics and Realists
Both these groups tried to break away from the static art of the academy and
sought for a personal form of expression.
Earlier manifestations that had a very important influence on
the impressionists:
• The subjects of the Romantics and Realists
• The ideas of Barbizone School and landscape themes
• The abstract studies of movement in Turner’s land and seascapes.

4. Romantics: The imagination and emotion was an important element in art
Realists: Sought inspiration in coeval reality.
The subjects of Impressionists:
The lives of working class.
The depiction of common man in act
The studies of nature in varied light conditions.
An essential factor in growth of Impressionism:
The invention of photography in 1839 that developed extensively within a
decade as a popular art form.
In 1850 the painter Paul Daroche (Academic Painter of the salon) somberly
declared - “Now the art of painting is dead”

5. Photography meant that the painting was liberated from the
constraints of imitating reality as closely as possible.
The camera recorded this reality with a fidelity, to truth and detail which no
painter could equal.
This meant that the artist was freed from the task and was free to give his own
interpretation of reality.
The Impressionists fascination with this new discovery:
The magical immediacy of the subjects
The momentary gestures
The photographic framework
A reference, to help the paintings.

6. Colours: a crucial Impressionist tool
B&W Photography: lacked colour
The discovery of colour theory that the whole spectrum of colour is based on a
few pure colours was extensively explored by the impressionistic technique.
This phenomenon of colour along with light was seriously studied by the
impressionist painters.
Use of Colours: applied next to each other with small separated
brushstrokes and this juxtaposition of colours seemed to merge together when
seen from a distance.
Unless seen from a distance, no interrelationship between these blobs of paint
could be established.

7. The Impressionist artists were a diverse group with strong
individualistic approach.
Sisley painted virtually only landscapes.
Sisley Plates
Degas effortlessly endeavored to capture the transient moments or
tried to grasp the moving world in still images, capturing the moments of
modern life – i.e.from his depictions of ballet dancers, to his fascination with
scenes of bars and cafes.
Degas Plates
Monet developed a variety of themes which clearly demonstrate that he was
a legendary master of light and is widely admired for the use of
subtle colors and innovative painterly technique.
Monet Plates
Impressionists focused on capturing the fleeting and ephemeral
effects of light on objects.

8. Pissarro ,known for the lyrical representations of the landscapes
and as a master of portraying the elusive play of light and shadow
Pissarro Plates
Manet and Renoir painted a large variety of subjects which included both
figurative as well as landscapes.
Manet Plates
Renoir Plates
Japonism a popular trend among impressionists
Mary Cassatt for instance combined Japanese lines and composition
with colours applied in an impressionistic manner. She painted
intimate, beautiful images that reveal the world of women (especially mothers)
and children.
Mary Cassatt Plates

9. ClaudeMonet
(1840-1926)
• He wasn’t the first to paint this way,
but the first to be “accepted” and
called an Impressionist
• Main subjects were nature and
landscapes- en plein air
• Painted same scenes day after day to
capture changing of light
• weather, atmosphere and the changing
of seasons

10. • Claude Monet became the "Father of Impressionism" when he exhibited
this painting of a boating scene at sunrise. His manner of painting with
loose brushstrokes and bright colors in a sketchy manner prompted a
writer to mimic the title in a newspaper essay. Calling him an
"impressionist" was meant to be an insult, but the term stuck because it fit
the ideals of the artist and his followers.
• Monet's early paintings of this style often include figures, he soon
discovered that it was the landscape which most captured his interests.
• Monet often painted the same subject over and over again, coming back
to a scene to observe the changing light and weather conditions. Above is
a cluster of poplars painted along the Epte River in 1891.
• You will notice, in this case, that the composition is almost exactly the
same - but that the changing colors are a result of different times of day
and lighting conditions

11. Monet, Impression Sunrise

12. Coquelicots, La promenade (Poppies), 1873

13. Springtime 1872

14. Jean Monet on his hobby horse, 1872
Women in a Garden, 1866–1867

15. Monet,
Boulevard des Capucines

16. Grainstacks, end of day, Autumn, 1890–1891,
Grainstacks in the Sunlight, Morning Effect, 1890-91

17. 1903 1904 1905
The Houses of Parliament Series:
One might easily say that he is not painting the Houses of Parliament at all. The buildings merely provide the
composition, but the true subject is light and color.

18. The Cliffs at Etretat, 1885

19. Monet, Rouen Cathedral, Dull WeatherMonet, Rouen Cathedral, Bright Sun light

20. Water lilies at Giverny

21. Monet, Water lilies

22. Monet, Water lilies

23. Monet, Water lilies

24. Monet, The Japanese bridge

25. Among his important works are a series of paintings of the River Themes ,
mostly around Hampton court, executed in 1874, and landscapes depicting
places in or near Moret-sur-Loing.
He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting
landscape (i.e., outdoors). He deviated into figure painting only rarely and,
unlike Renoir and Pissarro, found that Impressionism fulfilled his artistic
needs.
Alfred Sisley
(1839–1899)

26. Sisley, Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne

27. Sisley, Provencher's Mill at Moret

28. Sisley, Garden Path in Louveciennes Sisley, Snow at Louveciennes

29. Sisley, The Canal of Loing at Moret

30. Sisley, Station at Sevres

31. Edgar Degas
(1834-1917)
Self-portrait, 1855
• Cropped subjects awkwardly
• Showed emotional tension
• Chose unusual viewpoints.
• Linked to his fascination with
photography.
• He captured ‘snapshots’
• Painted ballerinas because they
sold well!

32. • Degas is know primarily for his paintings and pastels of ballerinas
• He created literally hundreds of images of this subject, but the
artworks are just as much about movement, light and color as they
are about the ballet. Though he captures the elegance of the dance,
the figures are often in awkward poses, and are often cropped from
the composition in unusual ways. This is his most innovative
contribution.
• Instead of looking posed, he gives the scenes an element of
spontaneity, a primary concern of all impressionists. Like the other
impressionists, he is interested in light and changing atmosphere -
but his is almost always the light of the stage or indoor lighting.

33. Degas, Place de la Concorde

34. Degas, Pole

35. Degas, The dance class

36. Degas, The Rehearsal

37. Degas, The dance Class

38. Degas, The tub

39. At the Ballet: Woman with a Fan 1883-5
View From the Loge

40. Degas, The dance Class

41. CamillePissarro
(1830- 1903)
Renoir referred to his work as "revolutionary", through his artistic
portrayals of the "common man", as Pissarro insisted on painting
individuals in natural settings without "artifice or grandeur

42. Pissaro, Les chataigniers a Osny (The Chestnut Trees at Osny)

43. Pissaro, Gelee balance (Hoarfrost)

44. Pissarro, The orchard

45. Pissarro, The autumn path

46. ÉDOUARDMANET
(1832 –1883)
He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, and a pivotal figure
in the transition from Realism to Impressionism …he was a classical artist, but then
‘adopted’ the notions of impressionism. ..he became friends with other Impressionist
artists and they influenced each other. Most well known for his social scenes.

47. Manet, The Balcony

48. Luncheon on the Grass, 1863

49. In the Conservatory, 1879

50. Olympia, 1863

51. The Dead Christ with Angels, 1864

52. The Railway, 1872

53. Manet, Painting in His Floating Studio

54. Manet, Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère

55. Manet, Detail, Le Bar aux Folies-Bergère

56. Manet, The Execution of emperor Maximilan

57. August Renoir
(1841-1919)
• Vibrant light
• Saturated color
• Most often focused on people in
intimate and candid
compositions.
• Females were his primary
subjects.
• Later in life he went back to
more traditional style of painting

58. • Renoir was a painter of people. Like Monet, he was interested
in light and how it defined the passing moment - but he rarely
painted without images of people enjoying themselves. It is
important to note that these are always modern people. They
are his contemporaries: primarily middle-class Parisians
enjoying their leisure time in outdoor or cultural events.
• In characteristic Impressionist style, Renoir suggested the
details of a scene through freely brushed touches of color, so
that his figures softly fuse with one another and their
surroundings.

59. Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party

60. Detail,
The Luncheon of the Boating Party

61. Renoir, The oarsman

62. Renoir, The Canoeists' Luncheon

63. Renoir, The theater box

64. Renoir, The walk

65. Renoir, On the terrace

66. Mary Cassatt
(1844-1926)
Self-portrait by Mary Cassatt,1878

67. • Mary Cassatt was one of few women artists involved in the Impressionist
group. An American, she was a friend of Edgar Degas, and was invited by
him to exhibit with them in Paris.
• The asymmetrical compositions are also strongly influenced by the work of
Japanese printmakers. Cassatt mastered the mediums of oil painting,
pastel, and printmaking (especially dry point with aquatint).
• The subject which most frequently captured her attention was that of the
tenderness expressed between mothers and children.

68. Mary Cassatt,
Mother and child

69. Mary Cassatt,
Mother and child

70. Mary Cassatt,
Lady at the Tea Table

71. Mary Cassatt,
Young girl at window

72. Mary Cassatt,
Summertime

73. Mary Cassatt, La Toilette

74. Mary Cassatt,
The bath

75. Mary Cassatt,
The lamp

76. Mary Cassatt,
The letter

77. Mary Cassatt,
Young women trying on a dress