Impressionism and Post-Impressionism
Introduction
Both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism refer to influential artistic movements arising in late 19th-century France. Impressionists rejected the system of state-controlled academies and salons in favor of independent exhibitions, the first of which was held in 1874. They painted contemporary landscapes and scenes of modern life, especially of bourgeois leisure and recreation, instead of drawing on past art or historical and mythological narrative for their inspiration. Interested in capturing transitory moments, the Impressionists paid attention to the fleeting effect of light, atmosphere and movement. They continued the break that the Realists began from the illusionist tradition by emphasizing the paint on the surface of the canvas, flattening the sense of perspective through a lack of tonal modeling, and using daring cropped perspectives which were influenced by Japanese prints. Confronting nature and modern city life directly, the Impressionists differed from their antecedents because they painted en plein air (in the open air) and used a palette of pure colors. The term Impressionism is used to describe a group of painters living in Paris who worked between c. 1860 and 1900. These artists, such as Frédéric Bazille, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Mary Cassatt, sparked an international group of followers and revolutionized Western conceptions of painting.
Post-Impressionism is a term used to describe the reaction in the 1880s against Impressionism. It was led by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. The Post-Impressionists rejected Impressionism’s concern with the spontaneous and naturalistic rendering of light and color. Instead they favored an emphasis on more symbolic content, formal order and structure. Similar to the Impressionists, however, they stressed the artificiality of the picture. The Post-Impressionists also believed that color could be independent from form and composition as an emotional and aesthetic bearer of meaning. Both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism include some of the most famous works of modern art such as Monet’s Waterlilies, a Series of Waterscapes and van Gogh’s Starry Night. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism continue to be some of the most well-known and beloved of artistic movements.
Influential Artists
Cassatt, Mary
Cézanne, Paul
de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de
Degas, Edgar
Derain, André
Gauguin, Paul
Gogh, Vincent van
Matisse, Henri
Monet, Claude
Morisot, Berthe
Pissarro, Camille
Renoir, Auguste
Seurat, Georges
Signac, Paul
Sisley, Alfred
APAH 250 Images:
Impressionism:
116. The Saint-Lazare Station, Claude Monet
* Impression, Sunrise, Water Lilies series (Hay Stacks)
* Degas – ballerinas/bathers
* Renoir – Le Moulin de la Galette, Luncheon of the Boating Party
121. The Coiffure, Mary Cassatt
Post Impressionism:
120. The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh
123. Where Do We Come From? What are we? Where are we going?, Paul Gauguin
125. Mont Saint-Victoire, Paul Cezane
116. The Saint-Lazare Station, Claude Monet
* Impression, Sunrise, Water Lilies series (Hay Stacks)
* Degas – ballerinas/bathers
* Renoir – Le Moulin de la Galette, Luncheon of the Boating Party
121. The Coiffure, Mary Cassatt
Post Impressionism:
120. The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh
123. Where Do We Come From? What are we? Where are we going?, Paul Gauguin
125. Mont Saint-Victoire, Paul Cezane
Vocabulary
Aquatint
Avant-garde
Caricature
Drypoint
Japonisme
Lithography
Modernism
Plein-air
Positivism
Skeleton
Zoopraxiscope
Avant-garde
Caricature
Drypoint
Japonisme
Lithography
Modernism
Plein-air
Positivism
Skeleton
Zoopraxiscope
Assignment:
Add the Artworks listed to your flash cards, and read Chapter 29, pages 869-886 in Gardener's, and use the study guide to focus on what is important in this chapter. You can view the study guide here. (This study is only here to help you study. You do not need to turn anything in.)