IMPRESSIONISM

IMPRESSIONISM Grade Level: 6-12 SUMMARY This overview of Impressionism outlines the historical, political, and cultural circumstances that created one of the most popular and influential art movements. The module focuses on the lives and works of key Impressionist artists who shaped and influenced much of the art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. IMPRESSIONISM Impressionism originated in the 1860's with the movements most prolific master Claude Monet and a group of artists including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Fdric Bazille; later followed by Camille Pissarro, Paul Czanne, Edgar Degas, Edouard Manet, his sister-in-law Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt and others. During the early 19th century, freedom of expression was foreign to the art world. At the Salon, the annual French state-sponsored exhibition where artists could display and sell their work, art was stacked three or four high, and crowded too closely together on the walls. Many of the Impressionist painters had been rejected by the Salon and, in l863; Napoleon III organized a show for them called Parisian Salon des Refuses that proved to be a landmark in the history of Modern art. Claude Monet organized an independent group of artists who would exhibit their recalcitrant canvases in an 1874 show, which shocked critics and public alike. After viewing Monets Impression Sunrise (1873), the artists sensory response to the sun seen through mist at Le Havre harbor at dawn, critic Louis Leroy coined the word Impressionists in his scoffing article in Le Charivari. Leroy added a new term to the critical vocabulary that was to become historic and, within a year, the name Impressionism was an accepted term in the art world. 1648. Their rejection of the Academy and the Academys rejection of them united the group. Despite the Academys power, seeds of artistic and political unrest had been sown long before 1874. Between 1830 and 1850, the population of Paris doubled. During the 1848 Revolution, Parisian workers with socialist goals overthrew the monarchy, only to see conservatives seize the reins of government later that year.

At the same time, the far-reaching Industrial Revolution fostered new faith in the individual and his unlimited potential. The Impressionists There were eight organized Impressionist exhibitions over 12 years. The exhibitions were looked to contemporary people at work and play. Inventions such as the steam engine, not initially well received by the establishment power loom, streetlights, camera, ready-made and reviews were at times abusive: La Figaro, fashions, cast iron, and steel changed the lives 1876: "Five or six lunatics, one of them a of ordinary people. woman, have met here to exhibit their works. Someone should tell M. Pissarro forcibly that Impressionists often depicted people mid-task. trees are never violet, the sky is never the color Degas caught opera audiences watching each of fresh butter, that nowhere on earth are things other instead of the stage; he prowled behind the to be seen as he paints them." scenes of the opera and ballet for his subjects The basic and most steadfast principle of the Impressionist movement is that each work is based on the artists immediate visual impression of the scene at a certain point in time or more importantly, at a certain time of day. Each work is a study of light, atmosphere and the play of reflections and color. Impressionism broke every rule of the French Academy of Fine Arts, the conservative school that had dominated art training and taste since ballet dancers stretching or adjusting their costumes. Renoirs woman strums the guitar to herself; Pissarros Parisian pedestrians hurriedly cross the city streets. Country themes appealed as well. Railroads provided a new mobility. One could hop on a train and be in the countryside in an hour. The Seine River, parks, and gardens provided recreation for weekend picnickers, swimmers, and boat parties, which the Impressionists duly recorded.

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IMPRESSIONISM
The home offered other real-life subjects. It was unacceptable for women painters like Berthe Morisot or Mary Cassatt to set up an easel in most public places. They relied on domestic scenes of women from their own social class cuddling babies, playing with their children, dressing in the boudoir, or tending their gardens. The garden was central to late 19th-century life. Monet, Manet, and Renoir often painted their gardens. other artists created their own prints, lithographs POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES and etchings, making multiple copies of their work and reaching larger audiences. Write an essay on Impressionism, including the major artists and their Impressionists struggled to find markets for paintings. their work. Finally, in the 1880s and 90s, the world began to embrace them and American Describe the artistic innovations of the collectors were largely responsible. In 1897, Impressionist and how they influenced The Muse de Luxembourg in Paris mounted future generations of painters. the first museum exhibition of Impressionist art and an exhibition at the 1900 World Exposition Describe the cultural, historical, and Impressionists painted the same scene at sealed the artists reputations. technological events that impacted these different times and in different weather. They artists and their work. used rapid, broken brushstrokes and applied OBJECTIVES paint thickly creating a rough texture on the By viewing the module and participating in the EXTENDED LEARNING canvas. Working outdoors en plein air, activities, students will be able to: Create a painting in the Impressionist Impressionists rendered the play of sunlight and Describe the historical and technological style depicting an ordinary situation in the hues of nature in bolder, lighter colors than circumstances that led to Impressionism. your daily life. Emphasize light, classical studio painters used. shadow, brush stroke and color. Describe the basic properties and Perhaps no invention of the Industrial innovations of Impressionist painting. Revolution influenced Impressionism more than Select 3 paintings: discuss and the camera. Most of the Impressionists had demonstrate the illusion of three Name 5 Impressionist painters, their cameras; Monet had four and Degas dimensional depth in Impressionism. major works and key biographical experimented with one of the early Kodak information. portable models. Their art took on the odd, Produced by: unexpected, and asymmetrical compositions PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES sometimes caught by the camera. View a selection of Impressionist Another influence was Japonisme. The opening Arts4All, Ltd. paintings and describe your feelings and of Japan to Western trade and diplomacy in 2 West 45th Street, Suite 500 impressions of both the subject matter 1854 led to a rage in France for all things New York, NY 10036 and technique. Japanese. Impressionists used fans, kimonos, Tel: (212) 391-4007 lacquered boxes as props in their paintings. Fax: (212) 391.4024 Discuss world events, particularly in They used the flat, decorative shapes, colors, Email: info@arts4all.com France, at the time these paintings were and asymmetrical compositions of Japanese www.arts4all.com created. wood-block prints. Degas, Monet, Cassatt, and
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