All (minus weeks 9 and 10)

Define Impressionists

A term often used to describe a group of French painters, working around 1860-1900. They had 8 exhibitions together, from 1874-1886.

Gustave Courbet - influence

• Thick brushstrokes, palette knife, similar to delacroix

• arguably the first to achieve success outside of the Salon

Eduard Manet - influence

not an impressionist but influenced, preferring to seek the Salon

The Barbizon School

1830s-1870s

• a group of painters who lived in the forest outside Fontainebleau

• all interested in natural environment and to depict in a new way

• undisturbed rural life

• they would paint outside from life (rarely done)

• realistic reflection = different from impressionists

Forest of Fontainebleau

Theodore Rousseau 1849-52

Harvest

Charles Francois Daubingy 1851:

• undisturbed rural landscape

• his first large success

Landscape with Two Nymphs

Poussin 1659: to compare with barbizon

• the landscape is staged and the trees act almost like curtains

View of the Banks of the Seine

Daubigny 1855:

• thick obvious brushstrokes, but a realistic reflection

• well-received by critics

Cafe Guerbois and the Batignolles Group

not just the impressionists, some others. Meeting specifically to talk about art

Impressionists and the Salon

Around 1870, more being rejected from the salon, Manet and Renoir, most stop engaging with the system except for Manet

The First Exhibition 1874

Societe Anonyme: didn’t coin themselves impressionists

Impression Sunrise

Claude Monet 1872:

• how the term impressionist came about

• not representing a landscape, but the ‘sense it evokes’

Notable works from the First Exhibition

After Ingres’ La Source 1874: Felix Bracquemond

Reading 1873: Berthe Morisot

Banks of the Seine: Stanislas Lepine

Sunset at Ivryy 1874: Armand Guilaumin

What was the critical reception of the first exhibition?

Very positive, only about 7 out of 50 negative

‘one cannot encourage this daring undertaking enough’

Other Impressionist Exhibitions

76-7, 79, 80-82, 86: some felt better to leave and have solo exhibitions

What was the quality of depth in terms of impressionism?

A flattened pictorial depth:

• previously, the whole canvas would be painted dark, so the light would really pop

• impressionists would instead paint a light grey, flattening

• rejection of academic painting

What was the quality in terms of light and colour?

Using colour interaction to make light and shadows, not mixing black at all. Mixing blue in shadows and yellow in the whites.

French chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul

cool = recedes to eye

warm = comes forward

What was the quality in terms of texture?

Equalised and unblended mark-making:

• the salon admired high-skilled blending

The Dance Class

Edgar Degas 1874:

• unlike previous, the foreground figures have unblended marks about them

• prior to this the foreground would be seamlessly blended and background more sketchy

The little 14-year-old dancer

Degas 1881:

• originally a wax model with real material for tutu and hair

• unlike contemporary ballerinas, in a relaxed position considered too ugly

What was the artistic process of the impressionists?

Painting en plein air

Examples of impressionist artistic process

John Singer Sargent 1885: Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood

Boudin and Monet: Beach at Trouville 1869 and 1870: when cleaned, there were sand granules in the paint, boudin was Monet’s teacher

Exceptions to artistic process

Degas and Manet preferred in studio. Degas especially was methodical with sketchbooks

The Rehearsal (Detail)

Degas 1873-8: can see the grid lines from his methodical work

How are impressionist paintings related to immediacy

Paintings were like photography, artists responsible for capturing a changing moment

Charles Baudelaire

French poet, writer and art critic.

• Wrote the painter of modern life in 1863 possible seen as the impressionist manifesto

• focuses on aspects of modernity - the responsibility of artistic expression

How is Baudelaire related to the start of modernism

‘Modernity is the transient, the fleeting, the contingent’

Subject matter for impressionists

Rural, cityscapes, everyday life, the nude

Examples of impressionist landscapes:

The Road of Damietta: Guillaumin 1885

Landscape at Chaponval: Pissarro 1880

Creuse Valley (sunset): Monet 1889

Examples of Everyday Life:

Interior, Woman at the window: Caillebotte 1880

On the Lake: Morisot 1889 - captures a woman without chaperone

Dance at Bougival: Renoir 1883

In the Loge: Cassat 1878

Examples of the Nude:

Waiting for a client: Degas 1876

Nude in the Sunlight: Renoir 1876

Global effects of Impressionism

Influenced Glasgow boys

Alexander reid: one of the first UK collectors interested in impressionism

The final exhibition

1886, many felt too constrained by roles Degas imposed.

• a separate room was created by Pissarro to display Signac and Seurat

• neo-impressionism or pointilism

Japanese Footbridge and the Water Lily Pond, Giverny

Claude Monet 1899:

• he was a contemporary millionaire

the Coiffure

Mary Cassat 1890-1: inspired by a Japanese woodblock print

Monarchy of King Louis and Marie Antoinette

1774- 92 - Neoclassicism

First Revolution

1789-99 - Neoclassicism

First French Republic

1792-1804 - Neoclassicism

First French Empire under Napoleon

1804-15 - Neoclassicism

Bourbon Restoration

1814-30 - Romanticism

2nd revolution

1830 - Romanticism

July Monarchy

1830-48 Romanticism

3rd Revolution

1848 - Realism

2nd French Republic

1848-52 - Realism

Second French Empire

1852-1870 - Realism

the ancien regime

political/ social system pre first revolution in 89

Le Brun context

reputation grew in her 20s, having a close relationship with Marie Antoinette. The first official royal portraitist and admitted to the French RA. Flees France during revolution.

Le Brun notable works

Marie Antoinette in Court Dress 1778

Self portrait 1782

Marie Antoinette and her Children 1787

How does Le Brun Present Marie Antoinette?

Sensitive and kind, but assured in authority

Purpose of Le Brun portraits

a large dislike for Antoinette at the time due to bourgeoisie, trying to salvage reputation

Jacques-Louis David context

learned in Rome before returning to France, more linked with the revolution and Robespierre

Oath of the Horatii (revolution context)

David, 1784-5: narrative about allegiances

pre-revolution: willingness to die for the monarchy

post: civic duty and sacrifice for country

French Neo-Classicism:

revival of classical influence at the end of the 18th century, control, restraint and order

Role of prints during the revolution

spreading rumours and running commentary. Example: Family of pigs brought back to the pigsty

David’s politicised works

‘So that the impure blood may water our fields’ 1793

Marie Antoinette on the way to the guillotine

Death of Marat

David 1793: assassination of Marat by Charlotte Corday, leader of the montgnard faction, who was blamed for the September massacres. The letter says let me into your home, forgiveness = downfall.

presents him as kind, his perception in history.

David and the First French Republic

tactically shifts his alliance to Napoleon, commissioned works eg. Napoleon Crossing the alps in 1800

The coronation of Napoleon I and Empress Josephine in Notre Dame

David, 1805-7:

• 10m wide and took 2 years.

• He became the official painter.

• Within sketchbooks grids transfer models to canvas.

• Changed Napoleon crowning himself to crowning Josephine to separate from previous monarchy

David During Bourbon Restoration

exiles himself to Brussels

Henri IV Recieving the Attributes of Monarchy from the Dying Henry III

Francois Buffet, 1814: Legitimising the role of the new king and succession

Delacroix characteristics

very different to David, drama and movement, hallmark of romanticism.

Massacre at Chios

Delacroix 1824:

• Greek revolutionaries fighting Ottoman Empire for independence.

• greek figures and stereotypical clothing to identify

• important moment in his career, first time ‘romantic was used’

• shown in opposition to David’s Leonidas at Thermopylae

Death of Sardanapalus

Delacroix 1827:

• in contrast to the August Ingres Apotheosis of Homer

• dramatic, inviting more contrast between Neo-classicism and romanticism

• both described themselves as classicism

• however, Delacroix = revolutionary

Liberty Leading the People

Delacroix 1830:

• figures of all social class and ages

• displaying this revolution is about collective freedom

• flag designed by David during first revolution

• liberty is a concept, otherwise too controversial

Alphonse de Lamartine Rejects the Red Flag in Front of the Town Hall of Paris

Philippoteaux 1848: rejecting the red flag, both bloodshed of revolution and socialism, in favour of peace

Courbet context

rise in second French Republic, revolutionary style, not well received and so built his own pavilion. Beginning of realism

The Stonebreakers

Courbet 1849:

• heavily criticised

• two men at work, huge 2.5m canvas

• paint applied thick and unblended

Realism

emphasising realities and therefore often has political undertones

The painter’s studio

Courbet 1854-55:

• all classes of people

• compare to ‘liberty leading the people’ that had to be allegorical

• this is a real version of that, and therefore is controversial

When were the Wars of Independence and who were key figures?

Late 13th and early 14th century clashing with England when they came to exert control, Robert the Bruce and William Wallace

What was the Declaration made by Robert the Bruce?

Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, stating there would be no English rule in Scotland and sent to the pope

How were Wallace and Bruce remembered?

Respected, as fighting for rule and national duty, not for country.

What is the Union of the Crowns?

After Elizabeth I dies, her cousin James I of Scotland takes over and it becomes the United Kingdoms, moving the court from Edinburgh to London.

What caused the 7 ill years?

a severe famine at the end of the 17th century

What did Scots invest in, and what effects did it have?

The Darien Scheme, investing in establishing a Scottish colony in Panama, which failed in 1700 losing 20% of the economy. This motivated union with England to relieve National Debt. England wanted this to prevent Scotland establishing a second monarchy.

When was the Act of Union passed?

1707, many felt Scotland was wrongfully sold

What were the Jacobite risings?

The Stuart king was booted for William of Orange, as he was Protestant. This angered many, and first rising was in 1689 which failed. 2nd and 3rd did too.

Who were fighting in the Jacobite risings?

Catholic highlanders

How did the risings end?

in 1745 with the battle of Culloden. Afterwards, any idea of highland culture was suppressed: language, tartan

How was the Jacobite Risings seen in history?

Began to be romanticised. Viewed sympathetically. However, misunderstandings as Jacobite political symbols used to mean a generalised Scottish identity.

The White Cockade

Seen in Bonnie Prince Charlie by Mosman in 1750, and The Jacobite rose by Millais in 1862: a romanticised ideal of the wife sewing it onto the cap, but he is doomed to fail. Innocence

How is the enlightenment period related to Scottish history?

It coincided with he aftermath of the battle of Culloden, the lowlands flourished. However, the city has a dark side as the poverty gap increases.

When was the RSA founded?

1826, and granted royal charter in 1838

Who is Sir Walter Scott and how is he relevant to Romanticism?

A Scottish novelist, whose books were often set in the Scottish highlands. This was a large contrast to how the highlands had been viewed = unexplored, dangerous and savage.

What is highlandism?

Begins in 1822 when George the IV visits, wanting to show how he is also the king of the Scots. Tartan becomes an accepted symbol for Scotland

The Battle of Culloden

David Morier 1746: The highlanders presented dark, unkept beards. They are ‘savages’ with lots of weapons all pointing in various directions and faces are caricature. The British are pointing in unison at their enemy, one soldier pierces the heart of a highlander. There is an exposed embarrassing death. The artist was commissioned to commemorate the British victory.

At Bay

The Highland Outpost

John Pettie 1878: golden light falls on a figure we know is doomed, as he is at the Jacobite rising, indicates nobility and valour. Sheer determination on grip of the sword and fiery red hair.

The Thin Red Line

Robert Gibb 1881: Shows the battle of Balaclava in 1854, where the highland regiment has become a part of the British army. They have tartan and redcoats as a part of the British army. Russian soldier and horse seem to bow after being shot. The bayonets that once pointed at them now point at the enemy. A display of union nationalism

Loch Katrine

Horatio McCulloch 1866: Famous for being the land of mountain mist and flood. nature of the sublime by this impressive landscape. Inspired by Lady of the lake by Walter Scott. Alluded to storm in the front by broken trees. This became the paradigm of Scottish art, favoured by the RSA

Monarch of the Glen

Edward Landseer, 1851: very detailed animal painting, relates to deer hunting in highland society. New laws protecting private hunting grounds in deer forests meant that hunting was an upper class sport. Looking at this stag with the gaze of a hunter, maybe not representative of all Scottish experience. However, reprinted so many time = a successful Scottish ambassador?

What were French ideologies in the 19th century?

Questioning notions of reality, truth and existence

How was Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation relevant?

It was translated into French in the 1880s, stating that everything beyond the self only exists when one is conscious of it. this period is marked by pessimism.

How is Nietzsche relevant to ideology in late 19th century France?

Talks about the death of god, which resonates with declining western power at the time.

How did symbolism emerge?

Out of a dissatisfaction with impressionism, and a call for a greater emphasis on experience and feeling.

What were discoveries at the time, influencing symbolism?

Microbiology, X-rays, increased interest in the occult, more psychotic drugs like opium.

Who wrote the symbolist manifesto, and what did it claim?

Jean Moreas in 1886, claiming the symbolist should create objective works of art that don’t describe but express

What are characteristics of symbolist art?

Reveals bit by bit, through nuance and suggestion

Who was considered a precursor to symbolist art?

Gustave Moreau: through use of the morbid, dandy, decadent and the femme fatale

Oedipus and the Sphinx

Moreau 1864: classical and mythological mixed. The focus more on the subject makes it symbolist. Odeipus faces a sphinx who taunts with riddles, the origins of the femme fatale