Impressionism in painting

Origins

Origin of the name

The first important exhibition of the Impressionists took place from April 15 to May 15, 1874 in the studio of the photographer Nadar. 30 artists were presented there, with a total of 165 works. Monet's canvas - “Impression. Rising Sun " ( Impression, soleil levant), now in the Marmottin Museum, Paris, written in 1872, gave birth to the term “Impressionism”: the little-known journalist Louis Leroy, in his article in the magazine “Le Charivari”, called the group “Impressionists” to express his disdain. Artists, out of defiance, accepted this epithet; later it took root, lost its original negative meaning and came into active use.

The name “impressionism” is quite meaningless, unlike the name “Barbizon school”, where at least there is an indication of the geographical location art group. There is even less clarity with some artists who were not formally included in the circle of the first impressionists, although their technical techniques and means are completely “impressionistic” Whistler, Edouard Manet, Eugene Boudin, etc.) In addition, the technical means of the impressionists were known long before the 19th century centuries and they were (partially, to a limited extent) used by Titian and Velasquez, without breaking with the dominant ideas of their era.

There was another article (by Emil Cardon) and another title - “Rebel Exhibition”, which was absolutely disapproving and condemning. It was precisely this that accurately reproduced the disapproving attitude of the bourgeois public and criticism towards artists (Impressionists), which had prevailed for years. The Impressionists were immediately accused of immorality, rebellious sentiments, and failure to be respectable. IN currently this is surprising, because it is not clear what is immoral in the landscapes of Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, everyday scenes Edgar Degas, still lifes by Monet and Renoir.

Decades have passed. And the new generation of artists will come to a real collapse of forms and impoverishment of content. Then both criticism and the public saw the condemned impressionists as realists, and a little later as classics of French art.

Specifics of the philosophy of impressionism

French impressionism did not raise philosophical problems and did not even try to penetrate under the colored surface of everyday life. Instead, impressionism focuses on superficiality, the fluidity of a moment, mood, lighting, or angle of view.

Like the art of the Renaissance (Renaissance), impressionism is built on the characteristics and skills of perceiving perspective. At the same time, the Renaissance vision explodes with the proven subjectivity and relativity of human perception, which makes color and form autonomous components of the image. For impressionism, what is depicted in the picture is not so important, but how it is depicted is important.

Their paintings presented only the positive aspects of life, without affecting social problems, including such as hunger, disease, death. This later led to a split among the Impressionists themselves.

Advantages of Impressionism

The advantages of impressionism as a movement include democracy. By inertia, art even in the 19th century was considered a monopoly of aristocrats and the upper strata of the population. They were the main customers for paintings and monuments, and they were the main buyers of paintings and sculptures. Plots with the hard work of peasants, the tragic pages of modern times, the shameful aspects of wars, poverty, and social unrest were condemned, disapproved, and not bought. Criticism of the blasphemous morality of society in the paintings of Theodore Gericault and Francois Millet found response only among supporters of the artists and a few experts.

The impressionists took quite a compromise, intermediate position on this issue. Biblical, literary, mythological, and historical subjects inherent in official academicism were discarded. On the other hand, they fervently desired recognition, respect, even awards. Indicative is the activity of Edouard Manet, who for years sought recognition and awards from the official Salon and its administration.

Instead, a vision of everyday life and modernity emerged. Artists often painted people in motion, during fun or relaxation, presented the appearance of a certain place under certain lighting, and nature was also the motive of their works. Subjects of flirting, dancing, being in a cafe and theater, boating, on beaches and in gardens were taken. Judging by the paintings of the Impressionists, life is a series of small holidays, parties, pleasant pastimes outside the city or in a friendly environment (a number of paintings by Renoir, Manet and Claude Monet). The Impressionists were among the first to paint in the air, without finishing their work in the studio.

Technique

The new movement differed from academic painting both technically and ideologically. First of all, the Impressionists abandoned the contour, replacing it with small separate and contrasting strokes, which they applied in accordance with the color theories of Chevreul, Helmholtz and Rud. The sun's ray is split into components: violet, blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange, red, but since blue is a type of blue, their number is reduced to six. Two colors placed next to each other enhance each other and, conversely, when mixed they lose intensity. In addition, all colors are divided into primary, or basic, and dual, or derivative, with each dual color being complementary to the first:

• Blue - Orange
• Red Green
• Yellow - Violet

Thus, it became possible not to mix paints on the palette and get desired color by correctly applying them to the canvas. This later became the reason for refusing black.

Then the impressionists stopped concentrating all their work on canvases in the studios; now they prefer plein air, where it is more convenient to capture a fleeting impression of what they saw, which became possible thanks to the invention of steel paint tubes, which, unlike leather bags, could be closed so that the paint did not dry out.

Also, artists used opaque paints, which do not transmit light well and are unsuitable for mixing because they quickly turn gray; this allowed them to create paintings without “ internal", A " external» light reflected from a surface.

Technical differences contributed to the achievement of other goals, first of all, the impressionists tried to capture a fleeting impression, the smallest changes in each object depending on lighting and time of day; the highest embodiment was the cycles of paintings by Monet “Haystacks”, “Rouen Cathedral” and “Parliament of London”.

In general, there were many masters working in the Impressionist style, but the foundation of the movement was Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Frédéric Bazille and Berthe Morisot. However, Manet always called himself an “independent artist” and never participated in exhibitions, and although Degas participated, he never painted his works en plein air.

Chronology by artist

Impressionists

Exhibitions

• First exhibition(April 15 - May 15)

• Second exhibition(April )

Address: st. Lepeletier, 11 (Durand-Ruel Gallery). Participants: Basil (posthumously, the artist died in 1870), Beliard, Bureau, Debutin, Degas, Caillebotte, Cals, Lever, Legros, Lepic, Millet, Monet, Morisot, L. Otten, Pissarro, Renoir, Roir, Sisley, Tillo, Francois

• Third exhibition(April )

Address: st. Lepeletye, 6. Participants: Guillaumin, Degas, Caillebotte, Cals, Cordey, Lever, Lamy, Monet, Morisot, Moreau, Piette, Pissarro, Renoir, Roir, Cezanne, Sisley, Tillo, Francois.

• Fourth exhibition(April 10 - May 11)

Address: Avenue Opera, 28. Participants: Bracquemont, Madame Bracquemont, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Cals, Cassatt, Lebourg, Monet, Piette, Pissarro, Roir, Somm, Tillo, Foren.

• Fifth exhibition(April 1 - April 30)

Address: st. Pyramid, 10. Participants: Bracquemont, Madame Bracquemont, Vidal, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Cassatt, Lebourg, Lever, Morisot, Pissarro, Raffaelli, Roir, Tillo, Foren.

• Sixth exhibition(2 April - 1 May)

Address: Boulevard Capucines, 35 (studio of photographer Nadar). Participants: Vidal, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Cassatt, Morisot, Pissarro, Raffaelli, Roir, Tillo, Foren.

• Seventh exhibition(March )

Address: Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, 251 (At Durand-Ruel). Participants: Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Caillebotte, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley.

• Eighth exhibition(May 15 - June 15)

Address: st. Laffitte, 1. Participants: Madame Braquemont, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Casset, Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Lucien Pissarro, Redon, Roir, Seurat, Signac, Tillo, Forain, Schuffenecker.

Impressionism in literature

In literature, impressionism did not develop as a separate movement, but its features were reflected in naturalism and symbolism.

First of all, it is characterized by the expression of the author’s private impression, the rejection of an objective picture of reality, the depiction of every moment, which should have entailed the absence of plot, history and the replacement of thought with perception, and reason with instinct. The main features of the impressionist style were formulated by the Goncourt brothers in their work “Diary”, where famous phrase « Seeing, feeling, expressing - this is all art" has become a central position for many writers.

In naturalism, the main principle was truthfulness, loyalty to nature, but it is subject to impression, and therefore the appearance of reality depends on each individual person and her temperament. This is most fully expressed in the novels of Emile Zola, his detailed descriptions of smells, sounds and visual perceptions.

Symbolism, on the contrary, demanded a renunciation of the material world and a return to the ideal, but the transition is possible only through fleeting impressions, revealing visible things secret essence. A striking example poetic impressionism - Paul Verlaine's collection “Romances without Words” (). In Russia, Konstantin Balmont and Innokenty Annensky were influenced by impressionism.

Also, these moods affected dramaturgy (impressionist drama); passive perception of the world, analysis of moods, states of mind, the whole composition breaks up into a number of scenes filled with lyricism, and fleeting, scattered impressions are concentrated in the dialogues. The drama becomes a one-act drama, designed for intimate theaters. These signs have found their total reflection in the work of Arthur Schnitzler.

Impressionism in music

Musical impressionism was one of the movements of musical modernity. Characterized by the transmission of fleeting impressions, moods, and subtle psychological nuances.

The founder of impressionism in music is the French composer Erik Satie, who published “Three Melodies” in 1886, and “Three Sarabandes” in 1887, which carry all the main features of the new style. Erik Satie's bold discoveries five and ten years later were picked up and developed by two of his friends, the brightest representatives impressionism, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.

Literature

• Jean-Paul Crespel. Everyday life Impressionists 1863-1883, Moscow "Young Guard",
• Maurice Serulle and Arlette Serulle. Encyclopedia of Impressionism, Moscow "Republic",
• “Impressionism”, Brodskaya.N.V St. Petersburg, Aurora, 2002 (254 pp., 269 ill., 7 original sheets of text)

Links

• Impressionism, N.V. Brodskaya, published by Aurora 2010

Impressionism
Representatives
American impressionism
Collectors
Museums
Other

Movements in Western art
Middle Ages
New time
Modernism
Modern art

Wikimedia Foundation.

2010.:

Synonyms Today, impressionism is perceived as a classic, but in the era of its formation it was a real revolutionary breakthrough in art. Innovation and ideas in this direction have completely changed artistic perception art of the 19th and 20th centuries. A modern impressionism

in painting he inherits principles that have already become canonical and continues aesthetic searches in the transmission of sensations, emotions and light.

Prerequisites There are several reasons for the emergence of impressionism; it is a whole complex of prerequisites that led to a real revolution in art. In the 19th century French painting generally accepted norms. Also, the origins of this movement should be sought in the trends inherent in the Renaissance and associated with attempts to convey living reality. The artists of the Venetian school are considered the first progenitors of impressionism, then the Spaniards took this path: El Greco, Goya, Velazquez, who directly influenced Manet and Renoir. Technological progress also played a role in the formation of this school. Thus, the appearance of photography gave rise to new idea in art it’s about capturing momentary emotions and sensations. It is this instantaneous impression that the artists of the movement we are considering strive to “capture.” The development of the plein air school, which was founded by representatives of the Barbizon school, also had an influence on this trend.

History of impressionism

In the second half of the 19th century in French art folds up critical situation. Representatives classical school they do not accept the innovations of young artists and do not allow them to attend the Salon - the only exhibition that opens the way to customers. A scandal broke out when the young Edouard Manet presented his work “Luncheon on the Grass.” The painting aroused the indignation of critics and the public, and the artist was forbidden to exhibit it. Therefore, Manet participates in the so-called “Salon of the Rejected” along with other painters who were not allowed to participate in the exhibition. The work received a huge response, and a circle of young artists began to form around Manet. They gathered in a cafe and discussed problems contemporary art, argued about new forms. A society of painters appears who will be called impressionists after one of Claude Monet’s works. This community included Pissarro, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, Basil, Degas. The first exhibition of artists of this movement took place in 1874 in Paris and ended, like all subsequent ones, in failure. Actually, impressionism in music and painting covers a period of only 12 years, from the first exhibition to the last, held in 1886. Later, the movement begins to disintegrate into new movements, and some artists die. But this period brought about a real revolution in the minds of creators and the public.

Ideological principles

Unlike many other movements, painting in impressionism was not associated with deep philosophical views. The ideology of this school was momentary experience, impression. The artists did not set themselves social goals; they sought to convey the fullness and joy of life in everyday life. Therefore, the genre system of impressionism was generally very traditional: landscapes, portraits, still lifes. This direction is not a unification of people based on philosophical views, but a community of like-minded people, each of whom conducts his own quest to study the form of being. Impressionism lies precisely in the uniqueness of the view of ordinary objects; it is focused on individual experience.

Technique

It is quite easy to recognize painting in impressionism by some characteristic features. First of all, it is worth remembering that the artists of this movement were ardent lovers of color. They almost completely abandon black and brown in favor of a rich, bright palette, often heavily bleached. The Impressionist technique is characterized by short strokes. They strive for general impression, and not to careful drawing of details. The canvases are dynamic and intermittent, which corresponds to human perception. Painters strive to place colors on the canvas in such a way as to achieve coloristic intensity or proximity in the picture; they do not mix colors on the palette. Artists often worked plein air, and this was reflected in the technique, which did not have time to dry the previous layers. The paints were applied side by side or one on top of the other, and an opaque material was used, which made it possible to create the effect of an “inner glow.”

Main representatives in French painting

The birthplace of this movement is France; it was here that impressionism first appeared in painting. Artists of this school lived in Paris in the second half of the 19th century. They presented their works at 8 Impressionist exhibitions, and these paintings became classics of the movement. It is the Frenchmen Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Pissarro, Morisot and others who are the progenitors of the movement we are considering. The most famous impressionist, of course, is Claude Monet, whose works fully embodied all the features of this movement. Also, the movement is rightly associated with the name of Auguste Renoir, who considered his main artistic task to convey the play of the sun; in addition, he was a master of sentimental portraiture. Impressionism also includes such outstanding artists like Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin.

Impressionism in other countries

Gradually the direction is spreading in many countries, the French experience has been successfully picked up in others national cultures, although they have to talk more about individual works and techniques than about the consistent implementation of ideas. German painting in impressionism is represented primarily by the names of Lesser Ury, Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth. In the USA, ideas were implemented by J. Whistler, in Spain - by H. Sorolla, in England - by J. Sargent, in Sweden - by A. Zorn.

Impressionism in Russia

Russian art in the 19th century was significantly influenced by French culture, so domestic artists also could not avoid being carried away by the new movement. Russian impressionism in painting is most consistently and fruitfully represented in the works of Konstantin Korovin, as well as in the works of Igor Grabar, Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov. The peculiarities of the Russian school were the etude nature of the works.

What was impressionism in painting? The founding artists sought to capture momentary impressions of contact with nature, and Russian creators also tried to convey a deeper, philosophical meaning works.

Impressionism today

Despite the fact that almost 150 years have passed since the emergence of the movement, modern impressionism in painting has not lost its relevance today. Thanks to their emotionality and ease of perception, paintings in this style are very popular and even commercially successful. Therefore, many artists around the world are working in this direction. Thus, Russian impressionism in painting is presented in the new Moscow museum of the same name. Exhibitions of contemporary authors, for example V. Koshlyakov, N. Bondarenko, B. Gladchenko and others, are regularly held there.

Masterpieces

Modern lovers visual arts Impressionism in painting is often called their favorite direction. Paintings by artists of this school are sold at auctions at incredible prices, and collections in museums enjoy great public attention. The main masterpieces of impressionism are considered to be paintings by K. Monet “Water Lilies” and “ Rising Sun”, O. Renoir “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette”, C. Pissarro “Boulevard Montmartre at night” and “Boieldieu Bridge in Rouen on a rainy day”, E. Degas “Absinthe”, although this list can be continued almost endlessly.

“The new world was born when the impressionists painted it”

Henri Kahnweiler

XIX century. France. Something unprecedented happened in painting. A group of young artists decided to shake 500-year-old traditions. Instead of a clear drawing, they used a wide, “careless” stroke.

And they completely abandoned the usual images, depicting everyone in a row. And ladies of easy virtue, and gentlemen of dubious reputation.

The public was not ready for impressionist painting. They were ridiculed and scolded. And most importantly, they didn’t buy anything from them.

But the resistance was broken. And some impressionists lived to see their triumph. True, they were already over 40. Like Claude Monet or Auguste Renoir. Others waited for recognition only at the end of their lives, like Camille Pissarro. Some did not live to see him, like Alfred Sisley.

What revolutionary did each of them accomplish? Why did the public take so long to accept them? Here are the 7 most famous French impressionists known to the whole world.

1. Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Edouard Manet. Self-portrait with a palette. 1878 Private collection

Manet was older than most of the Impressionists. He was their main inspiration.

Manet himself did not claim to be the leader of the revolutionaries. He was socialite. I dreamed of official awards.

But he waited a very long time for recognition. The public wanted to see greek goddesses or still lifes at worst, so that they look beautiful in the dining room. Manet wanted to paint modern life. For example, courtesans.

The result was “Breakfast on the Grass.” Two dandies are relaxing in the company of ladies of easy virtue. One of them, as if nothing had happened, sits next to the dressed men.

Edouard Manet. Breakfast on the grass. 1863, Paris

Compare his Luncheon on the Grass with Thomas Couture's Romans in Decline. Couture's painting created a sensation. The artist instantly became famous.

“Breakfast on the Grass” was accused of vulgarity. Pregnant women were absolutely not recommended to look at her.

Thomas Couture. Romans in their decline. 1847 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. artchive.ru

In Couture's painting we see all the attributes of academicism (traditional painting of the 16th-19th centuries). Columns and statues. People of Apollonian appearance. Traditional muted colors. Manners of poses and gestures. A plot from the distant life of a completely different people.

“Breakfast on the Grass” by Manet is of a different format. Before him, no one had portrayed courtesans so easily. Close to respectable townspeople. Although many men of that time spent their leisure time this way. It was real life real people.

Once I portrayed a respectable lady. Ugly. He couldn't flatter her with a brush. The lady was disappointed. She left him in tears.

Edouard Manet. Angelina. 1860 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Wikimedia.commons.org

So he continued to experiment. For example, with color. He did not try to depict the so-called natural color. If he saw gray-brown water as bright blue, then he depicted it as bright blue.

This, of course, irritated the public. “Even the Mediterranean Sea cannot boast of being as blue as Manet’s water,” they quipped.

Edouard Manet. Argenteuil. 1874 Museum of Fine Arts, Tournai, Belgium. Wikipedia.org

But the fact remains a fact. Manet radically changed the purpose of painting. The painting became the embodiment of the individuality of the artist, who paints as he pleases. Forgetting about patterns and traditions.

Innovations were not forgiven for a long time. He received recognition only at the end of his life. But he no longer needed it. He was dying painfully from an incurable disease.

2. Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Claude Monet. Self-portrait in a beret. 1886 Private collection

Claude Monet can be called a textbook impressionist. Since he was faithful to this direction all his long life.

He painted not objects and people, but a single color construction of highlights and spots. Separate strokes. Air tremors.

Claude Monet. Paddling pool. 1869 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Metmuseum.org

Monet painted not only nature. He was also successful in city landscapes. One of the most famous - .

There is a lot of photography in this picture. For example, motion is conveyed through a blurred image.

Please note: distant trees and figures seem to be in a haze.

Claude Monet. Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. 1873 (Gallery of European and American Art of the 19th-20th centuries), Moscow

Before us is a frozen moment in the bustling life of Paris. No staging. Nobody is posing. People are depicted as a collection of brush strokes. Such lack of plot and the “freeze-frame” effect are the main features of impressionism.

By the mid-80s, artists became disillusioned with impressionism. Aesthetics are, of course, good. But the lack of plot depressed many.

Only Monet continued to persist, exaggerating impressionism. This developed into a series of paintings.

He depicted the same landscape dozens of times. IN different time days. At different times of the year. To show how temperature and light can change the same species beyond recognition.

This is how countless haystacks appeared.

Paintings by Claude Monet at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Left: Haystacks at sunset in Giverny, 1891. Right: Haystacks (snow effect), 1891.

Please note that the shadows in these paintings are colored. And not gray or black, as was customary before the Impressionists. This is another of their inventions.

Monet managed to enjoy success and material well-being. After 40, he already forgot about poverty. Got a house and a beautiful garden. And he created for his own pleasure long years.

Read about the master’s most iconic painting in the article

3. Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Self-portrait. 1875 Sterling and Francine Clark Institute of Art, Massachusetts, USA. Pinterest.ru

Impressionism is the most positive painting. And the most positive among the impressionists was Renoir.

You won't find drama in his paintings. Even black paint he didn't use it. Only the joy of being. Even the most banal things in Renoir look beautiful.

Unlike Monet, Renoir painted people more often. Landscapes were less important to him. In the paintings his friends and acquaintances are relaxing and enjoying life.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Rowers' breakfast. 1880-1881 Phillips Collection, Washington, USA. Wikimedia.commons.org

You won't find any profundity in Renoir. He was very glad to join the impressionists, who completely abandoned subjects.

As he himself said, he finally has the opportunity to paint flowers and call them simply “Flowers.” And don’t invent any stories about them.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Woman with an umbrella in the garden. 1875 Thyssen-Bormenis Museum, Madrid. arteuam.com

Renoir felt best in the company of women. He asked his maids to sing and joke. The stupider and more naive the song was, the better for him. And men's chatter tired him. It is not surprising that Renoir is famous for his nude paintings.

The model in the painting “Nude in sunlight” seems to appear against a colorful abstract background. Because for Renoir nothing is secondary. The model's eye or a section of the background are equivalent.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Nude in sunlight. 1876 ​​Musée d'Orsay, Paris. wikimedia.commons.org

Renoir lived a long life. And I never put down my brush and palette. Even when his hands were completely shackled by rheumatism, he tied the brush to his hand with a rope. And he drew.

Like Monet, he waited for recognition after 40 years. And I saw my paintings in the Louvre, next to my works famous masters.

Read about one of the most charming portraits of Renoir in the article

4. Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Edgar Degas. Self-portrait. 1863 Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal. cultured.com

Degas was not a classical impressionist. He did not like to work in the open air (on outdoors). You won’t find a deliberately lightened palette with him.

On the contrary, he loved a clear line. He has plenty of black. And he worked exclusively in the studio.

But still he is always put in a row with other great impressionists. Because he was an impressionist of gesture.

Unexpected angles. Asymmetry in the arrangement of objects. Characters taken by surprise. These are the main attributes of his paintings.

He stopped moments of life, not allowing the characters to come to their senses. Just look at his “Opera Orchestra”.

Edgar Degas. Opera orchestra. 1870 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. commons.wikimedia.org

In the foreground is the back of a chair. The musician's back is to us. And in the background the ballerinas on stage did not fit into the “frame”. Their heads are mercilessly “cut off” by the edge of the picture.

So his favorite dancers are not always depicted in beautiful poses. Sometimes they just do stretching.

But such improvisation is imaginary. Of course, Degas carefully thought through the composition. This is just a freeze frame effect, not a real freeze frame.

Edgar Degas. Two ballet dancers. 1879 Shelburne Museum, Vermouth, USA

Edgar Degas loved to paint women. But illness or characteristics of the body did not allow him to have relations with them. physical contact. He has never been married. No one has ever seen him with a lady.

Absence real stories in his personal life added a subtle and intense eroticism to his images.

Edgar Degas. Ballet star. 1876-1878 Musee d'Orsay, Paris. wikimedia.comons.org

Please note that in the painting “Ballet Star” only the ballerina herself is depicted. Her colleagues behind the scenes are barely visible. Just a few legs.

This does not mean that Degas did not complete the painting. This is the reception. Keep only the most important things in focus. Make the rest disappear, illegible.

Read about other paintings by the master in the article

5. Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

Edouard Manet. Portrait of Berthe Morisot. 1873 Marmottan-Monet Museum, Paris.

Berthe Morisot is rarely placed in the first rank of the great Impressionists. I'm sure it's undeserved. It is in her work that you will find all the main features and techniques of impressionism. And if you like this style, you will love her work with all your heart.

Morisot worked quickly and impetuously, transferring her impressions to the canvas. The figures seem to be about to dissolve into space.

Berthe Morisot. Summer. 1880 Fabray Museum, Montpellier, France.

Like Degas, she often left some details unfinished. And even parts of the model's body. We cannot distinguish the hands of the girl in the painting “Summer”.

Morisot's path to self-expression was difficult. Not only did she engage in “careless” painting. She was still a woman. In those days, a lady was supposed to dream of marriage. After which any hobby was forgotten.

Therefore, Bertha refused marriage for a long time. Until she found a man who respected her occupation. Eugene Manet was the brother of the artist Edouard Manet. He dutifully carried an easel and paints behind his wife.

Berthe Morisot. Eugene Manet with his daughter in Bougival. 1881 Marmottan-Monet Museum, Paris.

But still, this was in the 19th century. No, I didn't wear Morisot trousers. But she could not afford complete freedom of movement.

She could not go to the park to work alone, without being accompanied by someone close to her. I couldn’t sit alone in a cafe. Therefore, her paintings are of people from the family circle. Husband, daughter, relatives, nannies.

Berthe Morisot. A woman with a child in a garden in Bougival. 1881 National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.

Morisot did not wait for recognition. She died at the age of 54 from pneumonia, without selling almost any of her work during her lifetime. On her death certificate, there was a dash in the “occupation” column. It was unthinkable for a woman to be called an artist. Even if she actually was.

Read about the master’s paintings in the article

6. Camille Pissarro (1830 – 1903)

Camille Pissarro. Self-portrait. 1873 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Wikipedia.org

Camille Pissarro. Non-conflict, reasonable. Many perceived him as a teacher. Even the most temperamental colleagues did not speak badly of Pissarro.

He was a faithful follower of impressionism. In great need, with a wife and five children, he still worked hard in his favorite style. And he never switched to salon painting to become more popular. It is not known where he got the strength to fully believe in himself.

In order not to die of hunger at all, Pissarro painted fans, which were eagerly bought up. But real recognition came to him after 60 years! Then finally he was able to forget about his need.

Camille Pissarro. Stagecoach in Louveciennes. 1869 Musée d'Orsay, Paris

The air in Pissarro's paintings is thick and dense. An extraordinary fusion of color and volume.

The artist was not afraid to paint the most changeable natural phenomena, which appear for a moment and disappear. First snow, frosty sun, long shadows.

Impressionism first emerged in France towards the end XIX century. Before the emergence of this movement, still lifes, portraits and even landscapes were mainly painted by artists in studios. Impressionist paintings were often created in the open air, and their subjects were real fleeting scenes from modern life. And although impressionism was initially criticized, it soon attracted many followers and initiated similar movements in music and literature.

Famous French Impressionist Artists

It is not surprising that one of the most famous destinations It was impressionism in painting that became a part of fine art: artists who worked in this style left behind canvases of amazing beauty, light, like a breath of fresh air, full of light and colors. Many of these beautiful works were written by the following masters of impressionism, whom every self-respecting connoisseur of world painting knows.

Edouard Manet

Despite the fact that the entire work of Edouard Manet cannot be placed only within the framework of impressionism, the painter largely influenced the emergence of of this current, and other French artists working in this style considered him the founder of impressionism and their ideological inspirer. good friends The masters were other famous French impressionists: Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, as well as an impressionist artist with a similar surname, which baffles newcomers to the world of painting - Claude Monet.

After meeting these artists, impressionistic changes took place in Manet’s work: he began to prefer working in the open air, light, bright colors, an abundance of light and fractional composition began to predominate in his paintings. Although from dark colors he still does not refuse, and prefers painting in landscapes everyday genre- this can be seen in the painter’s works “Bar at the Folies Bergere”, “Music in the Tuileries”, “Breakfast on the Grass”, “At Father Lathuille’s”, “Argenteuil” and others.

Claude Monet

Name of this French artist Probably everyone has heard it at least once in their life. Claude Monet was one of the founders of impressionism, and it was his painting “Impression: The Rising Sun” that gave the movement its name.

In the 60s of the 19th century, the impressionist artist was one of the first to become interested in painting on fresh air, and many later created a new experimental approach to work. It consisted of observing and depicting the same object at different times of the day: this is how a whole series of canvases was created with a view of the façade of the Rouen Cathedral, opposite which the artist even settled so as not to lose sight of the building.

When exploring impressionism in painting, don't miss Monet's Field of Poppies at Argenteuil, Walk to the Cliff at Pourville, Women in the Garden, Lady with an Umbrella, Boulevard des Capucines, and the Watermen series. lilies."

Pierre Auguste Renoir

This impressionist artist had a unique vision of beauty, which made Renoir one of the most famous representatives of this direction. First of all, he is famous for his paintings of noisy Parisian life and leisure late XIX centuries. Renoir was excellent at working with color and chiaroscuro; his exceptional ability to paint nudes, with a unique rendering of tones and textures, is especially noted.

Already from the 80s, the impressionist artist began to lean more towards the classical style of painting and became interested in Renaissance painting, which forced him to include sharper lines and clearer composition in his mature works. It was during this period that Pierre Auguste Renoir created some of the most imperishable works of his era.

Pay special attention to such paintings by Renoir as “The Luncheon of the Rowers”, “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette”, “Dance in the Village”, “Umbrellas”, “Dance at Bougival”, “Girls at the Piano”.

Edgar Degas

In the history of art, Edgar Degas remained as an impressionist artist, although he himself rejected this label, preferring to call himself more of an independent artist. Indeed, he had a certain interest in realism, which distinguished the artist from other impressionists, but at the same time he used many impressionist techniques in his work, in particular, he “played” with light in the same way and was fond of depicting scenes from city life.

Degas was always attracted by the human figure; he often depicted singers, dancers, and laundresses, trying to depict human body in various positions, for example, on the canvases “Dance Class”, “Rehearsal”, “Concert at the Ambassador Cafe”, “Opera Orchestra”, “Dancers in Blue”.

Camille Pissarro

Pissarro was the only artist who took part in all eight Impressionist exhibitions from 1874 to 1886. While Impressionist paintings are known for their scenes of urban and country holidays, Pissarro's paintings show the viewer daily life French peasants, depicting rural nature in different conditions and under different lighting.

When getting acquainted with the paintings that this impressionist artist painted, first of all it is worth seeing the works “Boulevard Montmartre at Night”, “The Harvest at Eragny”, “The Reapers Resting”, “The Garden at Pontoise” and “Entering the Village of Voisin”.

Introduction

Impressionism as a phenomenon in art

Impressionism in painting

Impressionist artists

3.1 Claude Monet

3.2 Edgar Degas

3.3 Alfred Sisley

3.4 Camille Pissarro

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

This essay is dedicated to impressionism in art - painting.

Impressionism is one of the brightest and most important phenomena in European art, which largely determined the entire development of modern art. Currently, the works of the Impressionists, who were not recognized in their time, are highly valued and their artistic merits are undeniable. The relevance of the chosen topic is explained by the need for every modern person to understand art styles and know the main milestones of its development.

I chose this topic because impressionism was a kind of revolution in art, changing the idea of ​​works of art as holistic, monumental things. Impressionism brought to the fore the individuality of the creator, his own vision of the world, relegating political and religious subjects and academic laws to the background. It’s interesting that emotions and impressions, and not plot and morality, played main role in the works of the Impressionists.

Impressionism (fr. impressionnisme, from impression- impression) - a movement in the art of the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries, which originated in France and then spread throughout the world, whose representatives sought to capture the most natural and unbiased real world in its mobility and variability, to convey your fleeting impressions. Usually the term “impressionism” refers to a movement in painting, although its ideas have also found their embodiment in literature and music.

The term "impressionism" arose with light hand critic of the magazine “Le Charivari” Louis Leroy, who entitled his feuilleton about the Salon of Les Misérables “Exhibition of the Impressionists”, taking as a basis the title of this painting by Claude Monet.

Auguste Renoir Paddling pool, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Origins

During the Renaissance, painters Venetian school tried to convey living reality using bright colors and intermediate tones. The Spaniards took advantage of their experiences, most clearly expressed in such artists as El Greco, Velazquez and Goya, whose work subsequently had a serious influence on Manet and Renoir.

At the same time, Rubens made the shadows on his canvases colored, using transparent intermediate shades. As Delacroix observed, Rubens depicted light with subtle, refined tones, and shadows with warmer, richer colors, conveying the effect of chiaroscuro. Rubens did not use black, which would later become one of the main principles of impressionist painting.

Edouard Manet was influenced by the Dutch artist Frans Hals, who painted with sharp strokes and loved contrast bright colors and black.

The transition of painting to impressionism was also prepared by English painters. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), Claude Monet, Sisley and Pissarro went to London to study the great landscape painters Constable, Bonington and Turner. As for the latter, already in his later works it is noticeable how the connection with real picture peace and care for the individual transfer of impressions.

Eugene Delacroix had a strong influence, he already distinguished between local color and color acquired under the influence of light, his watercolors painted in North Africa in 1832 or in Etretat in 1835, and especially the painting “The Sea at Dieppe” (1835) allow us to talk about him as a predecessor of the Impressionists.

The final element that influenced the innovators was Japanese art. Since 1854, thanks to exhibitions held in Paris, young artists have discovered masters of Japanese printmaking such as Utamaro, Hokusai and Hiroshige. A special, hitherto unknown in European fine art, arrangement of an image on a sheet of paper - an offset composition or a tilted composition, a schematic representation of form, a penchant for artistic synthesis - won the favor of the impressionists and their followers.

Story

Edgar Degas, Blue dancers, 1897, Pushkin Museum im. Pushkin, Moscow

The beginning of the search for impressionists dates back to the 1860s, when young artists were no longer satisfied with the means and goals of academicism, as a result of which each of them independently looked for other ways to develop their style. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited the painting “Lunch on the Grass” at the Salon of the Rejected and actively spoke at meetings of poets and artists in the Guerbois cafe, which were attended by all the future founders of the new movement, thanks to which he became the main defender of modern art.

In 1864, Eugene Boudin invited Monet to Honfleur, where he spent the entire autumn watching his teacher paint studies in pastels and watercolors, and his friend Yonkind applying paint to his works with vibrating strokes. It was here that they taught him to work en plein air and paint in light colors.

In 1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, Monet and Pissarro went to London, where they became acquainted with the work of the predecessor of impressionism, William Turner.

Claude Monet. Impression. Sunrise. 1872, Marmottan-Monet Museum, Paris.

Origin of the name

The first important exhibition of the Impressionists took place from April 15 to May 15, 1874 in the studio of the photographer Nadar. 30 artists were presented there, with a total of 165 works. Monet's canvas - “Impression. Rising Sun" ( Impression, soleil levant), now in the Marmottin Museum, Paris, written in 1872, gave birth to the term "Impressionism": the little-known journalist Louis Leroy, in his article in the magazine "Le Charivari", called the group "Impressionists" to express his disdain. Artists, out of defiance, accepted this epithet; later it took root, lost its original negative meaning and came into active use.

The name “impressionism” is quite meaningless, unlike the name “Barbizon School”, where at least there is an indication of the geographical location of the artistic group. There is even less clarity with some artists who were not formally included in the circle of the first impressionists, although their technical techniques and means are completely “impressionistic” Whistler, Edouard Manet, Eugene Boudin, etc.) In addition, the technical means of the impressionists were known long before the 19th century centuries and they were (partially, to a limited extent) used by Titian and Velasquez, without breaking with the dominant ideas of their era.

There was another article (by Emil Cardon) and another title - “Rebel Exhibition”, which was absolutely disapproving and condemning. It was precisely this that accurately reproduced the disapproving attitude of the bourgeois public and criticism towards artists (Impressionists), which had prevailed for years. The Impressionists were immediately accused of immorality, rebellious sentiments, and failure to be respectable. At the moment, this is surprising, because it is not clear what is immoral in the landscapes of Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, everyday scenes of Edgar Degas, still lifes of Monet and Renoir.

Decades have passed. And the new generation of artists will come to a real collapse of forms and impoverishment of content. Then both criticism and the public saw the condemned impressionists as realists, and a little later as classics of French art.

Impressionism as a phenomenon in art

Impressionism, one of the brightest and most interesting movements in French art of the last quarter of the 19th century, was born in a very complex environment, characterized by diversity and contrasts, which gave impetus to the emergence of many modern movements. Impressionism, despite its short duration, had a significant influence on the art of not only France, but also other countries: the USA, Germany (M. Lieberman), Belgium, Italy, England. In Russia, the influence of impressionism was experienced by K. Balmont, Andrei Bely, Stravinsky, K. Korovin (closest in his aesthetics to the impressionists), the early V. Serov, as well as I. Grabar. Impressionism was the last major art movement in France XIX century, which paved the line between the art of New and Contemporary times.

According to M. Aplatov, “pure impressionism probably did not exist. Impressionism is not a doctrine, it could not have canonized forms...French impressionist artists have one or another of its features to varying degrees.” Usually the term “impressionism” refers to a movement in painting, although its ideas have found their embodiment in other forms of art, for example, in music.

Impressionism is, first of all, the art of observing reality, conveying or creating an impression that has reached unprecedented sophistication, an art in which the plot is not important. This is a new, subjective artistic reality. The Impressionists put forward their own principles of perception and display of the surrounding world. They erased the line between the main subjects worthy high art, and secondary subjects.

An important principle of impressionism was the avoidance of typicality. Immediacy and a casual look have entered art; it seems that the Impressionist paintings were painted by a simple passer-by walking along the boulevards and enjoying life. It was a revolution in vision.

The aesthetics of impressionism developed partly as an attempt to decisively free oneself from the conventions of classicist art, as well as from the persistent symbolism and profundity of late romantic painting, which suggested seeing encrypted meanings in everything that needed careful interpretation. Impressionism not only affirms the beauty of everyday reality, but also makes artistically significant the post-constant variability of the surrounding world, the naturalness of spontaneous, unpredictable, random impressions. Impressionists strive to capture its colorful atmosphere without detailing or interpreting it.

As an artistic movement, impressionism, particularly in painting, quickly exhausted its capabilities. Classical French impressionism was too narrow, and few remained faithful to its principles throughout their lives. In the process of development of the impressionistic method, the subjectivity of pictorial perception overcame objectivity and rose to an increasingly higher formal level, opening the way for all movements of post-impressionism, including the symbolism of Gauguin and the expressionism of Van Gogh. But, despite the narrow time frame - just two decades, impressionism brought art to a fundamentally different level, having a significant impact on everything: modern painting, music and literature, as well as cinema.

Impressionism introduced new themes; works of a mature style are distinguished by a bright and spontaneous vitality, the discovery of new artistic possibilities of color, the aestheticization of a new painting technique, and the very structure of the work. It is these features that emerged in impressionism that are further developed in neo-impressionism and post-impressionism. The influence of impressionism as an approach to reality or as a system of expressive techniques found its way into almost all art schools of the early 20th century; it became the starting point for the development of a number of directions, including abstractionism. Some principles of impressionism - transfer instantaneous movement, fluidity of form - manifested themselves to varying degrees in the sculpture of the 1910s, in E. Degas, Fr. Rodin, M. Golubkina. Artistic impressionism greatly enriched the means of expression in literature (P. Verlaine), music (C. Debussy), and theater.

2. Impressionism in painting

In the spring of 1874, a group of young painters, including Monet, Renoir, Pizarro, Sisley, Degas, Cezanne and Berthe Morisot, neglected the official Salon and staged their own exhibition, subsequently becoming the central figures of the new movement. It took place from April 15 to May 15, 1874 in the studio of the photographer Nadar in Paris, on the Boulevard des Capucines. 30 artists were presented there, with a total of 165 works. Such an act in itself was revolutionary and broke with centuries-old foundations, but the paintings of these artists at first glance seemed even more hostile to tradition. It took years before these later recognized classics of painting were able to convince the public not only of their sincerity, but also of their talent. All these very different artists were united by a common struggle against conservatism and academicism in art. The Impressionists held eight exhibitions, the last in 1886.

It was at the first exhibition in 1874 in Paris that Claude Monet's painting of a sunrise appeared. It attracted everyone's attention primarily with its unusual title: “Impression. Sunrise". But the painting itself was unusual; it conveyed that almost elusive, changeable play of colors and light. It was the name of this painting - “Impression” - thanks to the ridicule of one of the journalists, that laid the foundation for a whole movement in painting called impressionism (from the French word “impression” - impression).

Trying to express their immediate impressions of things as accurately as possible, the impressionists created new method painting. Its essence was to convey the external impression of light, shadow, reflexes on the surface of objects with separate strokes of pure paint, which visually dissolved the form in the surrounding light-air environment.

Plausibility was sacrificed to personal perception - the impressionists could, depending on their vision, paint the sky green and the grass blue, the fruits in their still lifes were unrecognizable, human figures were vague and sketchy. What was important was not what was depicted, but “how” was important. The object became a reason for solving visual problems.

The creative method of impressionism is characterized by brevity and sketchiness. After all, only a short sketch made it possible to accurately record individual states of nature. What was previously allowed only in sketches has now become main feature completed paintings. Impressionist artists tried with all their might to overcome the static nature of painting and to forever capture the beauty of a fleeting moment. They began to use asymmetrical compositions to better highlight those who interested them characters and objects. In certain techniques of impressionistic construction of composition and space, the influence of passion for one’s own age is noticeable - not antiquity as before, Japanese engravings (such masters as Katsushika Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro) and partly photography, its close-ups and new points of view.

The Impressionists also updated their color scheme; they abandoned dark, earthy paints and varnishes and applied pure, spectral colors to the canvas, almost without mixing them first on the palette. Conventional, “museum” blackness in their canvases gives way to a play of colored shadows.

Thanks to the invention of metal tubes of paint, ready-made and portable, which replaced the old paints made by hand from oil and powdered pigments, artists were able to leave their studios to work plein air. They worked very quickly, because the movement of the sun changed the lighting and color of the landscape. Sometimes they squeezed paint onto the canvas straight from the tube and produced pure, sparkling colors with a brushstroke effect. By placing a stroke of one paint next to another, they often left the surface of the paintings rough. To preserve the freshness and variety of natural colors in the picture, the Impressionists created a painting system that is distinguished by the decomposition of complex tones into pure colors and the interpenetration of separate strokes of pure color, as if mixing in the viewer’s eye, with colored shadows and perceived by the viewer according to the law of complementary colors.

Striving for maximum immediacy in conveying the surrounding world, the Impressionists, for the first time in the history of art, began to paint primarily in the open air and raised the importance of sketches from life, which almost replaced traditional type paintings carefully and slowly created in the studio. Due to the very method of working in the open air, the landscape, including the city landscape they discovered, occupied a very important place in the art of the Impressionists. The main theme for them was the quivering light, the air in which people and objects seemed to be immersed. In their paintings one could feel the wind, wet earth heated by the sun. They sought to show the amazing richness of color in nature.

Impressionism introduced new themes into art - daily city life, street landscapes and entertainment. Its thematic and plot range was very wide. In their landscapes, portraits, and multi-figure compositions, artists strive to preserve the impartiality, strength and freshness of the “first impression”, without going into individual details, where the world is an ever-changing phenomenon.

Impressionism is distinguished by its bright and immediate vitality. It is characterized by the individuality and aesthetic value of the paintings, their deliberate randomness and incompleteness. In general, the works of the Impressionists are distinguished by their cheerfulness and passion for the sensual beauty of the world.