modern art

The 19^th century was a very innovative period; there was the industrial revolution and the invention of photography. The social life was drastically changing. Artists needed to go beyond realism since photography was taking over. They had to create an innovation that attracted the attention of the public and that could not be captured by a photographic camera.

It was in France that this innovation took place. Edouard Manet (1832-83), started off as a traditional artist, he finished his works in the studio and not on site and painted what he knew and not what he really saw. The change occurred when he painted ‘The Balcony’, where Manet painted exactly what he was seeing in that particular instant. Indeed he did not see any shadows in the green railing of the balcony, so he did not paint any. The nose of the woman was hardly showing because on the light washing her face, thus he painted only part of it.

This concept became the obsession of the Impressionists, a group of young French painters that wanted to make a break through the traditional and academic way of painting to capture exactly what they were seeing in that particular instant. It was all based on light and its effect in that particular brief unique instant.

In order to capture that moment, the Impressionists had to come up with a technique that was rapid enough to capture a brief instant in time and to make that moment effective. Indeed Impressionists had to abandon studio painting and go outside and paint from life and complete the work on site. They created a rapid Impasto technique where the artist builds his painting with rapid and short brushwork that filled the canvas doing away with the traditional polished studio style. Canvases got smaller in size since the artists had to complete the work in a very brief period.

Manet abandoned the polished style and as seen in his ‘Argenteuil’ , he started painting with rapid brushwork and managed to get that freshness which cannot be obtained with a polished technique.

The name of this movement was given after the painting ‘Impression Sunrise’, by Claude Monet, one of the main exponents of Impressionism. This landscape, which was literally a quick impression of the rays of the rising sun reflecting on the sea with a very sketchy boat in the distance. When this work was exhibited their were art critics who claimed that this work was not a proper painting but a mere impression of reality. Not everyone accepted the works of the Impressionists immediately. Indeed art critics and the general public were shocked with this break off traditional art. Impressionist paintings started being refused to be exhibited in traditional salons. Still the Impressionists were eager to expose their works and created the Salone des Refusees, the salon of refused works which gave these innovative artists to make their way to Modern Art.

Sine the aim of the Impressionists was to study and capture light on the person, object or landscape in that particular brief instant, most of the Impressionists made series of the same theme to study the effect of light during different periods of the day. For instance Monet made a whole series of ‘Waterlilies’ and  of ‘Haystacks’ and also of the ‘Rouen Cathedral ‘.  It was never seen before a Cathedral painted in orange or in blue, but Monet, like all the Impressionist painted the colours as he was seeing them in that particular moment and not in a traditional academic manner.

Another Impressionist, Pierre-Auguste Renoir exploited figures using the Impressionistic technique as seen for instance in his ‘Moulin de la Galette’. He also made a whole series of ‘Nudes’, studying the lighting effects of the sun-rays flickering through the leaves on the figures, a challenge never dared before.

Edgar Degas was also obsessed with figures but he turned his attention to ballerinas and dancing classes rather than to nude figures. He was after capturing the movement of the figures from life, where the quick impressionistic technique was ideal to capture such movement.

Offshoots of Impressionism

• Pointillism: Georges Seurat pioneered this technique, where keeping in mind the ideals of impressionism (to paint what they see and not what they know there is), he devised a method based on optical illusion where by means of the superimposition of dots of primary colours he produced secondary and tertiary shades. This method is quite different from the rapid and thick brushwork of the impressionists and the result is not as fresh as their work. However Seurat hinted out an innovative painting technique. Example of his works: ‘Circus’, ‘Une Baignade’, ‘la Grande Jatte’.
• Post-Impressionism: Impressionism gave way to innovative artistic techniques and also room for study and experimentation. The following three artists started off as Impressionists but each one of them followed a particular artistic preoccupation that influenced a good number of modern artists that came after and were fundamental for the development of Modern Art.

• Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) was preoccupied on how to obtain balance, harmony and order in his works, being a still-life, person or landscape. He painted with blobs of paint reflecting light and shade systematically to create depth and a three dimensional effect n his work. His works were of great inspiration for Modern artists who are concern on how to construct their works. Indeed Cezanne is considered as the ‘Father of Modern Art’ since he was the first to take nature as the primary reference and experiment on it. Examples: ‘Mountains in Provence’, Mount Sainte-Victoire’, ‘Still-life with a Bowl of Fruit’, ‘Still-life with a Basket of Apples’.
• Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) was obsessed for the regression to primitive art, the art that was pure and uncontaminated from man made activities and influences. He went to Tahiti and his works became influenced by the stylization of Tahitian primitive art. In Europe his works were considered as too crude and almost savage. He started doing away with depth in his painting and instead the objects and figures were harshly outlined that was later to influence the Fauvists and eventually a good number of Modern art movements. Examples: ‘Two Tahitian Women’, ‘Ia Orana Maria’.
• Vincent Van Gogh  (1853-90) suffered from a mental illness that led him to see life different from the traditional perspective. He led the way to Expressionism where the thick brushwork reflected his inner feelings. Even the colour scheme he used was symbolic and reflected a particular mood. For him a simple chair was not just a still life but it reflected his solitude. Van Gogh’s works are personal documents of the artist’s moods and feelings. Examples: ‘A Starry night’, ‘Cornfield and Cypress Trees’, ‘Sunflowers’, and his series of very deep self-portraits.

notes taken from A level history of art notes taken from various books