Impressionism to Post-Impressionism

Genre Hierarchy

1. Still Life

2. Landscape

   1. Genre (Daily life)

3. Portrait

4. History painting (this is where historical/biblical and royalty paintings go)

David

• Big artist of Neoclassicism. 

• David is imprisoned for supporting the wrong guy. 

• David does a self portrait of himself(implying hes just a painter & not actually political!)

• Napoleon the first buys it and releases him & makes him his favorite painter.

• Le serment des horaces, David, 1784

• Significance:

  • Broken into thirds

  • Fighting to take control of Rome itself

  • Triangle used to represent  man(stable): shape defined masculinity, strong controlled

  • Curve=femininity (shows women can’t control their nature)

  • Man making geometric shape shows superiority over nature

Neoclassicism

Topics from Rome history or Greek myth, geometric shape, anatomical perfection and idealized version of a woman’s body

The Rape of the Sabines, Nicolas Poussin, 1640

• Significance:

  • Depicts Romulus leading the Romans in abducting the Sabine women

  • Chaotic energy

  • There’s an old woman that you eyes naturally focus on, drawing viewers attention to the defenseless being attacked

The Rape of the Sabines, David, 1799

• More nudity, more common middle ground, foreground, background, more sky, we feel outside the city 

• Presence of innocence with babies

• This is a different story (10 years after the rape) to get the women & babies, hidden rules of war(fight someone at your own level)

• Romulus fighting Sabine king who is protecting his daughter, Romans like to represent themselves fighting naked, propaganda for how strong

David, The Coronation of the Emperor, 1807

• Napoleon starts playing with the idea of making France great again Louis the 14th, calls himself the emperor, invites the Pope, propaganda, holding the crown not far from his own head, and his mom was late and didn’t come because she disliked Josephine & because Napoleon was fighting with his brother

Jean-Dominique Ingres

Heir of David after he died, really realistic painter, like photographic level. He sexualizes & minimized the Sphinx in size

Grande Odalisque, Jean-Dominique Ingres, 1814

• Orientalism, woman in harem (slave)

• Created a new type of representation of nudity w/o seeming vulgar. Woman’s appearance was based on Lady Montagu

• Too long back, unrealistic: “An obsession with perfection that caused him to pervert perfection”. He prioritized the line of the curve over anatomical perfection

• Picasso was fascinated by this painting because he thought Ingres was saying that art does not need to be concerned w/ accuracy or perfection

Romanticism

Philosophical, artistic movement that starts in Germany with Goethe

• Goethe wrote “The Suffering of Young Verter”- about unrequited love, celebration of the ego

• To walk in the forest: Romanticist activity we all do, being a human. Nature is always stronger than humans

The Raft of the Medusa, Théodore Géricault, 1819

• Captain left crew, only 10 survive by eating the rest of the crew

• He’s obliged to use emotion (sad)

• It's more hopeful the higher you go in the painting

• Black man at top hold French flag is the philosopher

• Man holding his son, unhappy to be saved

• The painting is dark because artist mixed in asphalt 

• Gericault recieved criticism for this painting

Nudity

• No body hair on female genitals: idealized version of nudity

• Nude vs naked, nude is what we’re allowed to see

• Neoclassicism: anatomical perfection

  • Perfect vision of nudity, idealized version

• Long neck impossible: can’t have female nudity w/o justification is Venus

 

The First Tilling, Rosa Bonheur, 1849

• A peasant scene with peasants working with  big cows in the sunlight, with grass and rich soil. The farmer is wearing a white shirt which is surprising considering the work is dirty. This shirt detail indicates that it's an idealized depiction of peasant life. Bonheur was a very successful painter of her time. She was very wealthy from her work and a close friend of the queen.

The Kleptomaniac, Théodore Géricault, 1822 

• He started a series of people w/ mental illness 

• Which is interesting because there is no outward appearance of mental illness

• Presents new idea; art that is trying to illustrate something inside

The Death of Sardanapalus, Delacroix, 1827

• King of Sardanapale is about to be raided/attacked says, “Kill everything I love, so my enemy cannot have it”

• In this painting Delacroix stopped using mathematical perspective. Mathematical perspective was used to represent reality & to argue that art represents reality

• “The only way to represent chaos is to paint in a chaotic way”

• Chaotic/unrealistic painting to show how absurd the situation is

• He’s a good Romanticist because he’s using composition to make you feel the emotions he wants you to feel

L'Après-diner à Ornans, Gustave Courbet, 1849 

• Genre scene, everyday life

Un enterrement à Ornans, Gustave Courbet, 1849

• The burial of Ornans

• You can’t see who’s being buried. It was controversial at the Salon because of its size

•  It fell into the genre painting(peasant life) category because unknown person’s death but the size of the painting was the biggest in the Salon (bigger than the historical)

• Earth tones, humans aren’t idealized

• Courbet helped start realism

• Political: He’s showing that ordinary people are history too, they deserve to be displayed at the same size

• Christ on the cross is small in the scale of the painting; therefore not the focus

• Courbet was a fan of Proudhon (philosopher); Proudhon says “this painting is not anti-clerical” and Courbet agrees because “this painting isn’t about me, it’s about them”

Proudhon

• Anti capitalist; said property is theft (Saying “this is mine” is actually taking it from others)

• He actually went to jail for jail for his books; fought for his ideas

• anti-Semetic & misogynistic & anti clerical (didn’t support the clergy as a political institution)

The Stone Breakers, Courbet, 1849

• Clogs on older man so the rocks won’t hurt him, juxtaposed with the younger man in torn clothes and store bought leather shoes (and he’s less protected despite having money)

• Proudhon writes about the mechanic man who repeats the same gesture each day 

• The young man will never see a better life than what the old man saw

The Gleaners, Millet, 1850

• Against Napoleon the third

• Shows poor people are struggling

• Not being paid to work so they are picking up the scraps of hay

• Red, white, and blue

L’Angelus, Millet, 1850

• Sunset

• Farmers praying at sunset

• Basket looks like a casket, implies they didn't have enough to take care of their baby and it died

• Therefore anti monarchy–showing wealth disparity

The Painter's Studio, Courbet, 1855

• He’s in the studio painting

• On one side there are 

  • On his right: friends of art world

  • On his left: other figures who represent life at the time(poor, rich, people who oppress others and people who are oppressed)

• Was sent to the Salon and rejected

• He opened his own pavilion, but doesn’t want to teach because he doesn’t think art can be taught

• This is the start of scandal making a painting more popular

The Realism Movement

• 1840-1870, Started in France, spread to Europe and the US. Common subjects on large scale canvases: 

• Lower class

• Faithful to what existed (almost no idealizing)

• Earthly colors/subdued palette

• Observation predominates over erudition

• Political stance(often)

The Bathers, Courbet, 1853

• “Fat lady” → this is seen as vulgar

• Anti-idealization

• Representing real people with cellulite

Le sommeil, Courbet, 1866

• Courbet representing lesbians differently from other male painters at the time (these men painted the lesbians for the heterosexual man)

L’Origine du Monde, Courbet, 1866

• He’s painting women’s nudity more realistically with body hair (not idealized)

• Courbet was playing with realism in all types of painting

• He’s not fighting for women though, he’s fighting for artists to be able to represent reality

• It was a secret painting, because Courbet would have been imprisoned for pornography if it was public (considered pornographic because of the body hair)

The Magpie, Monet, 1869

• no white is used in this painting of snow

• it was rejected by the Salon because it had no subject but that was the point, the subject was the snow

The absinthe drinker, Manet, 1859

• Composition: blurry, unproportionate, his shadow is off messing up depth (Depth is important for representing reality)

• Tall hat → upper class bourgeois (he should be drinking champagne in a cafe not absinthe on the street)

• absinthe–90% alcohol,  horrible and green and cheap and addictive

• Shows upper class doesn’t even respect the rules anymore

Music in the Tuileries, Manet, 1862

• The painting is more crowded than humanly possible, but gives you a representation of reality

• This was a new activity at the time; rich people sitting in nature and listening to music outside(beginning of leisure)

• Little girls are disproportionate, look like they belong in a difference painting. Their presence is unrealistic too, usually they’d be left at home w/ nannies

• Missing mathematical proportion, trees in awkward places

• Faces not well described 

• Manet was often rejected from the Salon

• New to paint something from their own time period

Oedipus and the Sphinx, Ingres, 1808

• controversial because he sexualized the Sphinx with her breasts and made her small and less fearful when she’s a terrifying mythological figure

The Trout, Courbet, 1873

• Trout out of water bleeding, dying. Thought to be a self portrait of Courbet after he got out of jail, because he didn’t feel like he could express his ideas

Emile Zola Portrait, Manet, 1866

• Zola was a writer art critic who was friends with many artists

• He supported Manet which was a problem because he worked for a conservative newspaper (he was fired)

• Zola was like Manet’s anti-idealism but with writing. He started the literary school of Naturalism

• Manet painted a portrait of Zola to thank him, since he lost his job defending Manet

• In the background there are paintings by artists they both like: Velasquez and Japanese print

• The chair is not realist/correct (Manet always includes something non-realistic)

• This was shown at the Salon

•  This painting is a statement to depict Zola (a writer) to show they are together and share the same ideas

• They are slightly different though because w/ Naturalism Zola is representing reality and Manet means to show w/ his art, that art cannot represent reality

Le Fifre, Manet, 1866

• Rejected at the salon because…

  • Very flat

  • The child seems to be floating in the air

  • No background

  • Considered a preparatory painting

• Manet sent it to the salon to prove his point that he is his own artist → saying “This is my painting so here you go”

• Playing with the signature since it's the same direction of the shadow 

Luncheon on the grass, Manet, 1863

• Female nude, her dress is in the foreground showing her to be a person not a mythological figure

• Female nude is okay as long as it's an allegory

• By making the woman in the back the same size we see he’s not representing reality

• Also the bathing woman isn't interacting with the people in the front/almost like 2 different paintings

• All of this starts the idea that art isn’t supposed to represent reality, but to distance from it

The Dead Christ with Angels, Manet, 1864

• No one could see this scene: God with an angel → because to create this, he would have imagined it 

• Solid as reality/truth but it was really the artist's imagination

• Poet Baudelaire went to see Manet while he was painting 

  • He told him, he was making a mistake by not putting the crucifixion where it was supposed to be 

• Impossibility of art to represent reality 

• Baudelaire’s commentary: Making a style that says “you can’t paint reality” is painting a new reality and showing the world is changing.

Olympia, Manet, 1863

• Black servant = black maid carrying flowers that symbolize prostitution

• Manet possibly arguing for racial equality–Since black people weren’t usually allowed around things related to intimacy (so this detail of the maid’s race is scandalous)

• Unproportionate

• The cat is surprised making the viewer feel like a voyeur

• Her skin colors are off she looks sickly

• White women’s hand on her vagina is extremely visible to the viewer 

  • Creates desire, but not explicit sex 

• Curtains are open and the black servant is handing her flowers showing that she is ‘ready to work’

• This painting cannot represent reality because…

  • Skin color is off color

  • The body is not proportioned → legs are the same size as the torso 

• It was allowed into the real Salon in 1865 to contrast it with the “good paintings”

The Balcony, Manet, 1869

• 2 paintings that are fused together

  • (1) the women are painted in 2 different styles 

• This is a “real” balcony and not an opera balcony

• Woman is putting on her gloves like she is about to leave the house not go on her balcony

• Man is awkwardly having an imaginary conversation with himself because no one seems to look at him

• Baby/toddler in the background

• The dog is on the ground/not a real dog, just a representation on the painting

  • The dog is playing with a ball on a balcony → basically about to die 

  • Ball colors are red, white, and blue representing the artist’s agreement to pro-republican ideas 

The Beach at Trouville, Eugène Boudin, 1864

• Small painting to depict this group of people escaping to the beach

• It’s a snapshot, a small thing you paint fast

• Manet sees it and is intrigued, he reaches out to Boudin

• They meet and go to the beach and paint together 

Luncheon on the Grass, Claude Monet, 1866

• A version of Manet’s lunch that’s not scandalous so people pay attention to the style

• He understands what Manet is about: it’s not what you paint about, but how you paint

• Here the topic is not a picnic, it's the light!

La Grenouillère, Claude Monet, 1869

• Friends with Renoir, they probably painted it side by side

• Monet focuses on the water

• Topic: The reflection of light off water (movement)

• Funny obsession because it’s not possible→ technical limitation of art education at the time

La Grenouillère, Renoir, 1869

• Renoir focused on the people (this maintains true throughout his career)

Goethe

A poet at the beginning of Romanticism. Goethe explained warm and cold colors; and why they work. It’s because of persistence in your retina(warm colors push forward, cold pulls back. Warm color stays longer in your retina.) Goethe goes further to explain complementary colors: these colors look boldest next to each other. These new painters don’t paint reality, they translate it using the language of art. They change the way they paint and they change the way we receive it.

The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil, Monet, 1874

• Painting moments, over time depicts changes in society

• Clouds look different from steam from man made machines

• Texture stands out, the side by side brushstrokes

Impression, Sunrise, Monet, 1872

• Snapshot of harbor with chimneys with smoke

• Depicting changing world (industrialization)

• Such a classic impressionism painting because of the brushstroke and the fact that its a snapshot showing industrialization in the background 

• Contrasting colors

• Impressionist brushstroke

The Floorscrapers, Caillebotte, 1875

• Outdoor light coming through the window

• Impressionist: the light and obscured faces (done through shadow) is impressionist

• Vulgar = shirtless/half-naked men without justification

  • Rejected at the salon

• Talking to each other and wine on the side, showing that work is not strenuous 

• Between realism and impressionist

• No political purpose

• Rich man depicting “workers”

• Invention = snapshot (influences of photography) → Rise of the Photographic Shot 

Le pont de l’Europe, Caillebotte, 1876

• A couple on a bridge strolling; illustrating the new Paris

• Man of a different class on the same bridge, shows it’s no longer a socially organized city (This painting shows Caillebotte is not political)

• Haussmann’s urban planning unintentionally creates social mixity

La gare Saint Lazare, Claude Monet, 1877

• This painting is important because he painted the station from 12-13 different angles inventing the “series”

• He realized he needed to paint from many angles to share the sensation w/ the viewer like they are really there

• Now we do installations to communicate the sensation 

• Snapshot different meanings: Caillebotte→  camera-like snapshot, Monet→time aspect of snapshot, always movement, time

Renoir, Dance at Le moulin de la Galette, 1876

• Clear brushstrokes = thick, visible 

• Light = spotlight on the women on the far left 

• Crowded outdoor space

• The sensation of dance, which provokes an emotion of joy

  • Makes us feel that we want to be with them

• 3rd impressionist exhibition

• The goal is to capture the ultimate feeling of young people enjoying themselves in a space that was once exclusive to the upper class.

• Location = Montmartre which is a lower-middle-class area

• People in the painting

  • George Riviere = ministry of France, art collector, published “l’impressionniste” to support Renoir’s circle 

  • Monet, Sisley, Pisarro, Bazille, Renoir, Cezanne = friend group

• Power of social mixing | different classes in the same place, exchanging conversations 

Luncheon of the Boating Party, Renoir, 1881

• The men in the front are dressed casually

• The people’s faces are clearer, no impressionism brushstroke except in the foliage

• Renoir fully changes his style later in life (Started painting for commission as well)

Impressionism impact

Impressionism changed the art world entirely. Beginning of private art sector and art dealers. The idea of artists being part of a group together.

Bathers at Asnières, Seurat, 1884

• Urban scene, factory in background, complementary colors

• The people look like factory workers

• Outlines→ not painted outdoors

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Seurat, 1886

• Large in size like history paintings, complementary colors

• Renoir didn’t want it in the Impressionist Salon because the style was too different

• Chromo-luminescence–the impressionist brushstroke was replaced by the dot

• Colors mix in your eyes

• Seurat has the color theory part but not the fleeting moment part

The models, Seurat, 1888

• Nude people standing in front of his own less realistic painting to show he can do more realistic

• His prep painting was blurry /more impressionist to get the color

Le Chahut, Seurat, 1890

• Color is more muted

• Lines more graphic, shows efficiency of the line

• Able to capture movement maybe better than impressionist but less realistic 

Paul Signac

Followed Seurat after his sudden death. Created the Independent Artist Salon. This created a dynamic art world. The way some of the artists took color straight from tube to canvas shows they take more attention to color than naturalism.

Le Cirque, Seurat, 1891

• Circus was a big part of the new Paris & the avant garde life

• The painting is done from the POV of the performers

• Ring master is the only one with a distinct face

• Some audience members have top hats, some don’t showing class mixing

• Stillness of spectators vs movement/dynamism of performers

• Pointillism 

In the time of harmony, Signac, 1895

• Signac was an anarchist/communist–for them it was their dream of a new society

• This painting was a manifesto

• Signac thought machine could transform life for people not against them

  • Open up their time for family, education, leisure, and art

  • Believe science would liberate people

The Demolisher, Signac, 1899

• Healthy man, not starving

• They are demolishing old world to establish a new

• There is one type of person working and it's not the bourgeoisie

Woman in a Parasol, Constantin Guys, 1865

• Baudlaire explains fashion is a snapshot of the times

• Technique: watercolor, light brushstrokes that give it a transient quality like it’s capturing a moment in time

• Baudelaire felt this was the art of the new world

• The woman is engages in society through her clothes, but the painting is juxtaposed with her bored expression

• Guys, the artist, painted for pleasure and not fame

Dandyism

Masculine movement in the early 19th century starting in England. The way you dress is super important and not superficial. Baudelaire was part of it. Baudelaire thought beauty was the purpose of art, because beauty opposed the human mind to machine, and instead aligned it with nature. Baudelaire liked Delacroix’s Rape of Serdapole(sensation of beauty with color palette and warm colors), and didn’t like Courbet’s because it wasn’t beautiful.

Les déchargeurs de charbon, Claude Monet, 1875

A snapshot of his time

Le capeline rouge, Monet, 1873

• Impressionists paint what’s in front of them but sometimes the weather isn’t good so they paint indoor scenes with family

Avenue de l’Opera, Pissarro, 1898

• Subject: The New City

• People are undefined, just a brushstroke

Haussmannization

• Military considerations

• Pressing economic concerns

• Make Paris a prestigious capital: Aerer(Ventilate), Unifer(Unify), Embellir(Beautify)

• City of light → Outdoor light

• Common plans

  • Ground floor = arcade (shops)

  • Upper floor = noble families

  • Entreso = above arcade that serves as office space for shops

    • Attic = service rooms

    • Iron balcony 

Rosa Bonheur, Ploughing in the Nivernais, 1849

• Napoelon approved this one because it showed that with his support people are doing better 

  • The clothes are clean (very white)

  • Soil looks extremely fertile/rich 

  • “Idealized vision” of peasentry in order to increase Napoleon’s power