The main characteristic features of impressionism. Impressionism style: paintings by famous artists Monet direction in art
The phrase "Russian Impressionism" only a year ago cut the ear of the average citizen of our vast country. Every educated person knows about the light, bright and impetuous French impressionism, can distinguish Monet from Manet and recognize Van Gogh's sunflowers from all still lifes. Someone heard something about the American branch of the development of this direction of painting - more urban compared to the French landscapes of Hassam and portraits of Chase. But researchers argue about the existence of Russian impressionism to this day.
Konstantin Korovin
The history of Russian impressionism began with the painting "Portrait of a chorus girl" by Konstantin Korovin, as well as with misunderstanding and condemnation of the public. When I first saw this work, I. E. Repin did not immediately believe that the work was done by a Russian painter: “Spaniard! I see. Boldly, juicy writes. Wonderful. But it's just painting for painting's sake. Spaniard, however, with temperament ... ". Konstantin Alekseevich himself began to paint his canvases in an impressionistic manner as early as his student years, being unfamiliar with the paintings of Cezanne, Monet and Renoir, long before his trip to France. Only thanks to Polenov's experienced eye did Korovin learn that he was using the technique of the French of that time, which he came to intuitively. At the same time, the Russian artist is betrayed by the subjects that he uses for his paintings - the recognized masterpiece "Northern Idyll", written in 1892 and stored in the Tretyakov Gallery, shows us Korovin's love for Russian traditions and folklore. This love was instilled in the artist by the "Mammoth Circle" - a community of creative intelligentsia, which included Repin, Polenov, Vasnetsov, Vrubel and many other friends of the famous philanthropist Savva Mamontov. In Abramtsevo, where Mamontov's estate was located and where members of the art circle gathered, Korovin was fortunate enough to meet and work with Valentin Serov. Thanks to this acquaintance, the work of the already accomplished artist Serov acquired the features of light, bright and impetuous impressionism, which we see in one of his early works - “Open Window. Lilac".
Portrait of a chorus girl, 1883
Northern idyll, 1886
Bird cherry, 1912
Gurzuf 2, 1915
Pier in Gurzuf, 1914
Paris, 1933
Valentin Serov
Serov's painting is permeated with a feature inherent only in Russian impressionism - his paintings reflect not only the impression of what the artist saw, but also the state of his soul at the moment. For example, in the painting "St. Mark's Square in Venice", painted in Italy, where Serov went to in 1887 due to a serious illness, cold gray tones predominate, which gives us an idea of the artist's condition. But, despite the rather gloomy palette, the picture is a reference impressionistic work, since on it Serov managed to capture the real world in its mobility and variability, to convey his fleeting impressions. In a letter to his bride from Venice, Serov wrote: “In this century, everything is written that is difficult, nothing encouraging. I want, I want what is gratifying, and I will write only what is gratifying.”
Open window. Lilac, 1886
St. Mark's Square in Venice, 1887
Girl with peaches (Portrait of V. S. Mamontova)
Coronation. Confirmation of Nicholas II in the Assumption Cathedral, 1896
Girl illuminated by the sun, 1888
Bathing a horse, 1905
Alexander Gerasimov
One of the students of Korovin and Serov, who adopted their expressive brushstroke, bright palette and etude style of writing, was Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov. The heyday of the artist's work came at the time of the revolution, which could not but be reflected in the plots of his paintings. Despite the fact that Gerasimov gave his brush to the service of the party and became famous for his outstanding portraits of Lenin and Stalin, he continued to work on impressionistic landscapes that were close to his soul. The work of Alexander Mikhailovich “After the Rain” reveals to us the artist as a master of conveying air and light in the picture, which Gerasimov owes to the influence of his eminent mentors.
Artists at Stalin's dacha, 1951
Stalin and Voroshilov in the Kremlin, 1950s
After the rain. Wet Terrace, 1935
Still life. Field bouquet, 1952
Igor Grabar
In a conversation about late Russian impressionism, one cannot but turn to the work of the great artist Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar, who adopted many of the techniques of French painters of the second half of the 19th century thanks to his numerous trips to Europe. Using the techniques of the classical impressionists, Grabar depicts absolutely Russian landscape motifs and everyday scenes in his paintings. While Monet paints the blooming gardens of Giverny, and Degas paints beautiful ballerinas, Grabar depicts the harsh Russian winter and village life with the same pastel colors. Most of all, Grabar liked to depict frost on his canvases and dedicated a whole collection of works to him, consisting of more than a hundred small multi-colored sketches created at different times of the day and in different weather. The difficulty of working on such drawings was that the paint hardened in the cold, so I had to work quickly. But this is precisely what allowed the artist to recreate “that very moment” and convey his impression of it, which is the main idea of classical impressionism. Often Igor Emmanuilovich's style of painting is called scientific impressionism, because he attached great importance to light and air on canvases and created many studies on color reproduction. Moreover, it is to him that we owe the chronological arrangement of paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery, of which he was director in 1920-1925.
Birch alley, 1940
Winter landscape, 1954
Hoarfrost, 1905
Pears on a blue tablecloth, 1915
Corner of the estate (Ray of the sun), 1901
Yuri Pimenov
Completely non-classical, but still, impressionism developed in the Soviet era, a prominent representative of which is Yuri Ivanovich Pimenov, who came to the image of a “fleeting impression in pastel colors” after working in the style of expressionism. One of the most famous works of Pimenov is the painting "New Moscow" of the 1930s - light, warm, as if painted with Renoir's airy strokes. But at the same time, the plot of this work is completely incompatible with one of the main ideas of impressionism - the rejection of the use of social and political themes. "New Moscow" Pimenov just perfectly reflects the social changes in the life of the city, which have always inspired the artist. “Pimenov loves Moscow, its new, its people. The painter generously gives this feeling to the viewer,” wrote artist and researcher Igor Dolgopolov in 1973. And indeed, looking at the paintings of Yuri Ivanovich, we are imbued with love for Soviet life, new quarters, lyrical housewarming and urbanism, captured in the technique of impressionism.
Pimenov's work proves once again that everything "Russian", brought from other countries, has its own special and unique path of development. So French impressionism in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union absorbed the features of the Russian worldview, national character and way of life. Impressionism, as a way of conveying only the perception of reality in its pure form, remained alien to Russian art, because every painting by Russian artists is filled with meaning, awareness, the state of the changeable Russian soul, and not just a fleeting impression. Therefore, next weekend, when the Museum of Russian Impressionism will re-present the main exposition to Muscovites and guests of the capital, everyone will find something for themselves among the sensual portraits of Serov, Pimenov's urbanism and landscapes atypical for Kustodiev.
New Moscow
Lyrical housewarming, 1965
Dressing room of the Bolshoi Theatre, 1972
Early morning in Moscow, 1961
Paris. Rue Saint-Dominique. 1958
Stewardess, 1964
Perhaps, for most people, the names of Korovin, Serov, Gerasimov and Pimenov are still not associated with a certain style of art, but the Museum of Russian Impressionism, which opened in May 2016 in Moscow, nevertheless collected the works of these artists under one roof.
impressionism impressionism
(French impressionnisme, from impression - impression), a trend in art of the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries. It took shape in French painting in the late 1860s - early 70s. The name "Impressionism" arose after the exhibition in 1874, which exhibited a painting by C. Monet "Impression. Rising Sun" ("Impression. Soleil levant", 1872, now at the Musée Marmottan, Paris). At the time of the maturity of impressionism (70s - first half of the 80s), it was represented by a group of artists (Monet, O. Renoir, E. Degas, K. Pissarro, A. Sisley, B. Morisot, etc.), united for struggle for the renewal of art and overcoming the official salon academism and organized 8 exhibitions for this purpose in 1874-86. One of the creators of impressionism was E. Manet, who was not part of this group, but back in the 60s and early 70s. who performed with genre works, in which he rethought the compositional and pictorial techniques of the masters of the 16th-18th centuries. in relation to modern life, as well as scenes of the Civil War of 1861-65 in the USA, the execution of the Parisian Communards, giving them a sharp political focus.
Impressionism continues what was begun by realistic art of the 40-60s. liberation from the conventions of classicism, romanticism and academism, affirms the beauty of everyday reality, simple, democratic motives, achieves a living authenticity of the image. He makes authentic, modern life aesthetically significant in its naturalness, in all the richness and sparkle of its colors, capturing the visible world in its inherent constant variability, recreating the unity of man and his environment. In many Impressionist paintings (especially in landscapes and still lifes, a number of multi-figure compositions), a transient moment of the continuous flow of life, as if accidentally caught by the eye, is accentuated, the impartiality, strength and freshness of the first impression are preserved, allowing one to capture the unique and characteristic in what they see. The works of the Impressionists are distinguished by cheerfulness, passion for the sensual beauty of the world, but in a number of works by Manet and Degas there are bitter, sarcastic notes.
The Impressionists were the first to create a multifaceted picture of the daily life of a modern city, capturing the originality of its landscape and the appearance of the people inhabiting it, their way of life, work and entertainment. In the landscape, they (especially Sisley and Pissarro) developed the plein air searches of J. Constable, the Barbizon school, C. Corot and others, developed a complete plein air system. In Impressionist landscapes, a simple, everyday motif is often transformed by an all-penetrating moving sunlight, which brings a sense of festivity to the picture. Working on a painting directly in the open air made it possible to reproduce nature in all its quivering real vivacity, to subtly analyze and capture its transitional states, to capture the slightest color changes that appear under the influence of a vibrating and fluid light-air medium (organically uniting man and nature), which becomes Impressionism is an independent object of the image (mainly in the works of Monet). In order to preserve the freshness and variety of colors of nature in the paintings, the Impressionists (with the exception of Degas) created a pictorial system that is distinguished by the decomposition of complex tones into pure colors and the interpenetration of clear separate strokes of pure color, as if mixing in the eye of the viewer, light and bright colors, richness Valery and reflexes, colored shadows. Volumetric forms, as it were, dissolve in the light-and-air shell that envelops them, dematerialize, acquire unsteadiness of outlines: the play of various strokes, pasty and liquid, gives the colorful layer a quivering, relief; this creates a peculiar impression of incompleteness, the formation of an image in front of a person contemplating the canvas. Thus, there is a convergence of the sketch and the picture, and often the merging of several. stages of work into one continuous process. The picture becomes a separate frame, a fragment of the moving world. This explains, on the one hand, the equivalence of all parts of the picture, simultaneously born under the artist’s brush and equally participating in the figurative construction of works, on the other hand, the apparent randomness and imbalance, asymmetry of the composition, bold cuts of figures, unexpected points of view and complex angles that activate the spatial construction.
In some methods of constructing composition and space in impressionism, the influence of Japanese engraving and partly photography is noticeable.
The Impressionists also turned to the portrait and everyday genre (Renoir, B. Morisot, partly Degas). The everyday genre and the nude in Impressionism were often intertwined with the landscape (especially in Renoir); figures of people illuminated by natural light were usually depicted at an open window, in an arbor, etc. Impressionism is characterized by a mixture of the everyday genre with a portrait, a tendency to blur clear boundaries between genres. From the beginning of the 80s. some masters of impressionism in France sought to modify its creative principles. Late impressionism (mid-80s - 90s) developed during the period of the formation of the "modern" style, various trends of post-impressionism. Late impressionism is characterized by the emergence of a sense of self-worth of the subjective artistic manner of the artist, the growth of decorative trends. The game of shades and additional tones in the work of impressionism is becoming more and more sophisticated, there is a tendency to greater color saturation of the canvases or to tonal unity; landscapes are combined in a series.
The pictorial manner of Impressionism had a great influence on French painting. Certain features of impressionism were perceived by salon-academic painting. For a number of artists, the study of the method of impressionism became the initial stage on the way to the formation of their own artistic system (P. Cezanne, P. Gauguin, V. van Gogh, J. Seurat).
Creative appeal to impressionism, the study of its principles was an important step in the development of many national European art schools. Under the influence of French impressionism, the work of M. Liebermann, L. Corinth in Germany, K. A. Korovin, V. A. Serov, I. E. Grabar and early M. F. Larionov in Russia, M. Prendergast and M. Cassatt in the USA, L. Vychulkovsky in Poland, the Slovenian Impressionists, etc. At the same time, outside of France, only certain aspects of impressionism were picked up and developed: an appeal to modern themes, the effects of plein air painting, brightening the palette, sketchy painting style, etc. The term "impressionism" is also applied to the sculpture of the 1880-1910s, which has some features similar to impressionist painting - the desire to convey instantaneous movement, fluidity and softness of forms, deliberate plastic incompleteness. Impressionism in sculpture manifested itself most clearly in the works of M. Rosso in Italy, O. Rodin and Degas in France, P. P. Trubetskoy and A. S. Golubkina in Russia, and others. Impressionism in the visual arts influenced the development of expressive means in literature, music and theatre.
K. Pissarro. "Mail Coach at Louveciennes". Around 1870. Museum of Impressionism. Paris.
(Source: "Popular Art Encyclopedia." Edited by Polevoy V.M.; M.: Publishing House "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1986.)
impressionism(French impressionnisme, from impression - impression), a direction in the art of con. 1860 - early. 1880s Most clearly manifested in painting. Leading representatives: K. Monet, ABOUT. Renoir, TO. Pissarro, A. Guillaumin, B. Morisot, M. Cassatt, A. Sisley, G. Caillebotte and J. F. Basile. Together with them they exhibited their paintings by E. Mane and E. Degas, although the style of their works cannot be called completely impressionistic. The name "Impressionists" was assigned to a group of young artists after their first joint exhibition in Paris (1874; Monet, Renoir, Pizarro, Degas, Sisley, etc.), which caused furious indignation of the public and critics. One of the presented paintings by C. Monet (1872) was called “Impression. Sunrise ”(“ L’impression. Soleil levant ”), and the reviewer mockingly called the artists “impressionists” - “impressionists”. The painters performed under this name at the third joint exhibition (1877). At the same time, they began to publish the Impressionist magazine, each issue of which was dedicated to the work of one of the group members.
The Impressionists sought to capture the world around them in its constant variability, fluidity, and to express their immediate impressions without prejudice. Impressionism was based on the latest discoveries in optics and color theory (spectral decomposition of the sun's beam into the seven colors of the rainbow); in this he is consonant with the spirit of scientific analysis, characteristic of con. 19th century However, the Impressionists themselves did not try to determine the theoretical foundations of their art, insisting on the spontaneity, intuitiveness of the artist's work. The artistic principles of the Impressionists were not uniform. Monet painted landscapes only in direct contact with nature, in the open air (in open air) and even built a workshop in the boat. Degas worked in the workshop from memories or using photographs. Unlike representatives of later radical movements, the artists did not go beyond the Renaissance illusory-spatial system based on the use of direct perspectives. They firmly adhered to the method of working from nature, which they elevated to the main principle of creativity. Artists strove to "paint what you see" and "as you see". The consistent application of this method entailed the transformation of all the foundations of the existing pictorial system: color, composition, spatial construction. Pure colors were applied to the canvas in small separate strokes: multi-colored “dots” lay side by side, mixing into a colorful spectacle not on the palette and not on the canvas, but in the eye of the viewer. The Impressionists achieved an unprecedented sonority of color, an unprecedented richness of shades. The brushstroke became an independent means of expression, filling the surface of the picture with a lively shimmering vibration of color particles. The canvas was likened to a mosaic shimmering with precious colors. Black, gray, brown shades predominated in the former painting; in the canvases of the Impressionists, the colors shone brightly. The Impressionists did not use chiaroscuro to convey volumes, they abandoned dark shadows, the shadows in their paintings also became colored. Artists widely used additional tones (red and green, yellow and purple), the contrast of which increased the intensity of the color. In Monet's paintings, the colors were brightened and dissolved in the radiance of the rays of sunlight, local colors acquired many shades.
The Impressionists depicted the surrounding world in perpetual motion, the transition from one state to another. They began to paint a series of paintings, wanting to show how the same motif changes depending on the time of the day, lighting, weather conditions, etc. (cycles Boulevard Montmartre by C. Pissarro, 1897; Rouen Cathedral, 1893- 95, and "London Parliament", 1903-04, C. Monet). Artists have found ways to reflect in the paintings the movement of clouds (A. Sisley. “Louan in Saint-Mamme”, 1882), the play of glare of sunlight (O. Renoir. “Swing”, 1876), gusts of wind (C. Monet. “Terrace in Sainte-Adresse", 1866), jets of rain (G. Caillebotte. "Jer. Effect of rain", 1875), falling snow (C. Pissarro. "Opera passage. Snow effect", 1898), swift running of horses (E. Manet "Races at Longchamp", 1865).
The Impressionists developed new principles for constructing composition. Previously, the space of the picture was likened to a stage, now the captured scenes resembled a snapshot, a photo frame. Invented in the 19th century photography had a significant impact on the composition of the impressionist painting, especially in the work of E. Degas, who himself was a passionate photographer and, in his own words, sought to take the ballerinas depicted by surprise, to see them “as if through a keyhole”, when their poses, body lines natural, expressive and authentic. Creating paintings outdoors, the desire to capture rapidly changing lighting forced the artists to speed up the work, write "alla prima" (in one go), without preliminary sketches. Fragmentation, "randomness" of the composition and dynamic pictorial manner created a feeling of special freshness in the paintings of the Impressionists.
The favorite impressionist genre was the landscape; the portrait was also a kind of “landscape of the face” (O. Renoir, “Portrait of the Actress J. Samary”, 1877). In addition, the artists significantly expanded the range of painting subjects, turning to topics that were previously considered unworthy of attention: folk festivals, horse races, picnics of artistic bohemia, the backstage life of theaters, etc. However, their paintings do not have a detailed plot, a detailed narrative; human life is dissolved in nature or in the atmosphere of the city. The Impressionists did not write events, but moods, shades of feelings. Artists fundamentally rejected historical and literary themes, avoided depicting the dramatic, dark sides of life (wars, disasters, etc.). They sought to free art from the fulfillment of social, political and moral tasks, from the obligation to evaluate the phenomena depicted. The artists sang the beauty of the world, being able to turn the most everyday motif (room renovation, gray London fog, steam locomotive smoke, etc.) into an enchanting spectacle (G. Caillebotte. "Parquette", 1875; C. Monet. "Saint-Lazare Station" , 1877).
In 1886, the last exhibition of the Impressionists took place (O. Renoir and K. Monet did not participate in it). By this time, significant disagreements between the members of the group were revealed. The possibilities of the Impressionist method were exhausted, and each of the artists began to look for his own path in art.
Impressionism as a holistic creative method was a phenomenon predominantly of French art, but the work of the Impressionists had an impact on all European painting. The desire to update the artistic language, brighten the colorful palette, and expose painting techniques are now firmly included in the arsenal of artists. In other countries, J. Whistler (England and the USA), M. Lieberman, L. Corinth (Germany), J. Sorolla (Spain) were close to impressionism. The influence of impressionism was experienced by many Russian artists (V.A. Serov, K. A. Korovin, I. E. Grabar and etc.).
In addition to painting, impressionism was embodied in the work of some sculptors (E. Degas and O. Rodin in France, M. Rosso in Italy, P. P. Trubetskoy in Russia) in lively free modeling of fluid soft forms, which creates a complex play of light on the surface of the material and a feeling of incompleteness of the work; in poses the moment of movement, development is captured. In music, closeness to impressionism is found in the works of C. Debussy ("Sails", "Mists", "Reflections in the Water", etc.).
(Source: "Art. Modern Illustrated Encyclopedia." Under the editorship of Prof. A.P. Gorkin; M.: Rosmen; 2007.)
Synonyms:
See what "Impressionism" is in other dictionaries:
IMPRESSIONISM. I. in literature and art is defined as a category of passivity, contemplation and impressionability, applicable to one degree or another to artistic creativity at all times or periodically, in one form or another ... ... Literary Encyclopedia
impressionism- a, m. impressionisme m. The Doctrine of the Impressionist Painters. Bulgakov Hood. enc. A direction in art that aims to convey direct, subjective impressions of reality. Ush. 1934. Why, for example, the great ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
- [fr. impressionnisme Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Impressionism- IMPRESSIONISM. The end of the 19th century is associated with the flowering of impressionism in all areas of art, especially in painting and literature. The very term impressionism comes from the French word impression, which means impression. Under this... ... Dictionary of literary terms
- (from the French impression impression), a direction in the art of the last third of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It took shape in French painting in the 1860s and early 70s. (E. Manet, C. Monet, E. Degas, O. Renoir, K. Pissarro, A. Sisley). Impressionism claimed... Modern Encyclopedia
- (from French impression impression) direction in art of the last third of the 19th beginning. 20 centuries, whose representatives sought to most naturally and impartially capture the real world in its mobility and variability, to convey their fleeting ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Impressionism (fr. impressionnisme, from impression- impression) - a trend in art of the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries, which originated in France and then spread throughout the world, whose representatives sought to develop methods and techniques that made it possible to most naturally and vividly capture the real world in its mobility and variability, to convey their fleeting impressions. Usually, the term "impressionism" refers to a direction in painting (but this is, first of all, a group of methods), although its ideas have also been embodied in literature and music, where impressionism also appeared in a certain set of methods and techniques for creating literary and musical works, in which the authors sought to convey life in a sensual, direct form, as a reflection of their impressions
The task of the artist at that time was the most plausible image of reality, not showing the subjective feelings of the artist. If he was ordered a formal portrait, then it was necessary to show the customer in a favorable light: without deformities, stupid facial expressions, etc. If it was a religious story, then it was necessary to evoke a feeling of reverence and amazement. If the landscape - then show the beauty of nature. However, if the artist despised the rich man who commissioned the portrait, or was an unbeliever, then there was no choice and all that remained was to develop his own unique technique and hope for good luck. However, in the second half of the nineteenth century, photography began to actively develop and realistic painting began to gradually move aside, since even then it was extremely difficult to convey reality as believably as in photography.
In many ways, with the advent of the Impressionists, it became clear that art can be of value as the subjective representation of the author. After all, each person perceives reality differently and reacts to it in his own way. It is all the more interesting to see how reality is reflected in the eyes of different people and what emotions they experience at the same time.
The artist has an incredible amount of opportunities for self-expression. Moreover, self-expression itself has become much freer: take a non-standard plot, topic, tell something other than religious or historical topics, use your own unique technique, etc. For example, the Impressionists wanted to express a fleeting impression, the first emotion. That is why their work is vague and as if unfinished. This was done in order to show an instant impression, when the objects had not yet taken shape in the mind and only slight overflows of light, halftones and blurry contours were visible. Myopic people will understand me) imagine that you have not yet seen the whole object, you see it from afar or simply do not peer, but already form some kind of impression about it. If you try to portray this, then it is likely that you will end up with something like impressionist paintings. Something like a sketch. That is why it turned out that for the Impressionists it was more important not what is depicted, but how.
The main representatives of this genre in painting were: Monet, Manet, Sisley, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne. Separately, Umlyam Turner should be noted as their predecessor.
Speaking of the plot:
Their paintings represented only the positive aspects of life, not affecting social problems, including such as hunger, disease, death. This later led to a split among the Impressionists themselves.
Color schemes
The Impressionists paid great attention to color, fundamentally refusing gloomy shades, especially black. Such attention to the color of their work brought color itself to a very important place in the picture and prompted future generations of artists and designers to be attentive to color as such.
Composition
The composition of the Impressionists resembled Japanese painting, they used complex compositional schemes, other canons (not the golden ratio or the center). In general, the structure of the picture has become more often asymmetric, more complex and interesting from this point of view.
The composition of the Impressionists began to have a more independent meaning, it became one of the subjects of painting, in contrast to the classical one, where it more often (but not always) carried the role of a scheme according to which any work was built. At the end of the 19th century, it became clear that this is a dead end, and the composition itself can carry certain emotions and support the plot of the picture.
Forerunners
El Greco - because he used similar techniques in applying paint and color acquired a symbolic meaning from him. He also distinguished himself by a very original manner, individuality, which the Impressionists also aspired to.
Japanese engraving - because it gained great popularity in Europe of those years and showed that a picture can be built according to completely different rules than the classical canons of European art. This applies to composition, use of color, detailing, and so on. Also, in Japanese and in general oriental drawings and engravings, domestic scenes were much more often depicted, which was almost absent in European art.
Meaning
The Impressionists left a bright mark on world art, developing unique painting techniques and having a huge impact on all subsequent generations of artists with their bright and memorable works, protest against the classical school and unique work with color. Striving for maximum immediacy and accuracy in the transfer of the visible world, they began to paint mainly in the open air and raised the importance of a study from nature, which almost supplanted the traditional type of painting, carefully and slowly created in the studio.
Consistently clarifying their palette, the Impressionists freed painting from earthy and brown varnishes and paints. Conditional, "museum" blackness in their canvases gives way to an infinitely diverse play of reflexes and colored shadows. They immeasurably expanded the possibilities of fine art, revealing not only the world of sun, light and air, but also the beauty of the London fogs, the restless atmosphere of the life of a big city, the scattering of its night lights and the rhythm of incessant movement.
By virtue of the very method of working in the open air, the landscape, including the urban landscape they discovered, occupied a very important place in the art of the Impressionists. However, it should not be assumed that their painting was characterized only by a "landscape" perception of reality, for which they were often reproached. The thematic and plot range of their work was quite wide. Interest in man, and in particular in the modern life of France, was inherent in a number of representatives of this trend in a broad sense. His life-affirming, basically democratic pathos clearly opposed the bourgeois world order.
At the same time, impressionism and, as we will see later, post-impressionism are two sides, or rather, two consecutive time stages of that fundamental change that marked the boundary between the art of modern and modern times. In this sense, impressionism, on the one hand, completes the development of everything after the Renaissance art, the leading principle of which was the reflection of the surrounding world in visually reliable forms of reality itself, and on the other hand, it is the beginning of the largest upheaval in the history of fine art after the Renaissance, which laid the foundations for a qualitatively new art. stage -
art of the twentieth century.
Impressionism (from the French " impression"- impression) is a trend in art (literature, painting, architecture), it appeared at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century in France and quickly became widespread in other countries of the world. The followers of the new direction, who believed that academic, traditional techniques, for example, in painting or architecture, cannot fully convey the fullness and smallest details of the world around them, switched to using completely new techniques and methods, first of all in painting, then in literature and music. They made it possible to most vividly and naturally depict all the mobility and variability of the real world by conveying not its photographic appearance, but through the prism of the authors' impressions and emotions about what they saw.
The author of the term "impressionism" is considered to be the French critic and journalist Louis Leroy, who, under the impression of visiting the exhibition of a group of young artists "Salon of the Outcasts" in 1874 in Paris, calls them impressionists in his feuilleton, a kind of "impressionists", and this statement is somewhat dismissive and ironic nature. The basis for the name of this term was the painting by Claude Monet seen by the critic “Impression. Rising Sun". And although at first many of the paintings in this exhibition were sharply criticized and rejected, later this direction received wider recognition from the public and became popular all over the world.
Impressionism in painting
(Claude Monet "Boats on the beach")
The new style, manner and technique of depiction were not invented by French Impressionist artists from scratch, it was based on the experience and achievements of the most talented painters of the Renaissance: Rubens, Velasquez, El Greco, Goya. From them, the Impressionists took such methods of a more vivid and lively transmission of the world around them or the expressiveness of weather conditions, such as the use of intermediate tones, the use of bright or vice versa technique of dull strokes, large or small, characterized by abstractness. Adherents of the new direction in painting either completely abandoned the traditional academic manner of drawing, or completely remade the methods and methods of depiction in their own way, introducing such innovations as:
- Objects, objects or figures were depicted without a contour, it was replaced by small and contrasting strokes;
- A palette was not used for mixing colors, colors were selected that complemented each other and did not require merging. Sometimes the paint was squeezed onto the canvas directly from a metal tube, forming a pure, sparkling color with a brushstroke effect;
- The practical absence of black;
- The canvases were mostly painted in the open air, from life, in order to more vividly and expressively convey their emotions and impressions of what they saw;
- The use of paints with high covering power;
- Applying fresh strokes directly to the still wet surface of the canvas;
- Creation of cycles of paintings in order to study changes in light and shadow (Claude Monet's "Haystacks");
- Lack of depiction of acute social, philosophical or religious issues, historical or significant events. The works of the Impressionists are filled with positive emotions, there is no place for gloom and heavy thoughts, there is only lightness, joy and beauty of every moment, sincerity of feelings and frankness of emotions.
(Edouard Manet "Reading")
And although not all artists of this direction adhered to particular accuracy in performing all the exact features of the impressionism style (Edouard Manet positioned himself as a separate artist and never participated in joint exhibitions (there were 8 in total from 1874 to 1886). Edgar Degas worked only in his own workshop) this did not prevent them from creating masterpieces of fine art, which are still kept in the best museums and private collections around the world.
Russian Impressionist painters
Impressed by the creative ideas of the French Impressionists, Russian artists at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century created their own original masterpieces of fine art, later known under the general name “Russian Impressionism”.
(V. A. Serov "Girl with peaches")
Its most prominent representatives are Konstantin Korovin (“Portrait of a Chorus Girl”, 1883, “Northern Idyll”, 1886), Valentin Serov (“Open Window. Lilac”, 1886, “Girl with Peaches”, 1887), Arkhip Kuindzhi ( "North", 1879, "Dnepr in the morning" 1881), Abram Arkhipov ("North Sea", "Landscape. Study with a log house"), "late" impressionist Igor Grabar ("Birch Alley", 1940, "Winter Landscape" , 1954).
(Borisov-Musatov "Autumn Song")
The methods and manner of depiction inherent in impressionism took place in the work of such prominent Russian artists as Borisov-Musatov, Bogdanov Belsky, Nilus. The classical canons of French impressionism in the paintings of Russian artists have undergone some changes, as a result of which this direction has acquired an original national specificity.
Foreign Impressionists
One of the first works made in the style of impressionism is the painting by Edouard Manet "Breakfast on the Grass", exhibited to the public in 1860 in the Paris Salon of the Rejected, where canvases that did not pass the selection of the Paris Salon of Arts could be dismantled. The picture, painted in a style that was radically different from the traditional manner of depiction, caused a lot of criticism and rallied the followers of the new artistic direction around the artist.
(Edouard Manet "In Papa Lathuille's Tavern")
The most famous impressionist artists include Edouard Manet ("Bar at the Folies Bergère", "Music at the Tuileries", "Breakfast on the Grass", "Papa Lathuille's", "Argenteuil"), Claude Monet ("Field of Poppies at Argenteuil ”, “Walk to the Cliff in Pourville”, “Women in the Garden”, “Lady with an Umbrella”, “Boulevard des Capucines”, a series of works “Water Lilies”, “Impression. Rising Sun”), Alfred Sisley (“Country Avenue” , "Frost at Louveciennes", "Bridge at Argenteuil", "Early Snow at Louveciennes", "Lawns in Spring"), Pierre-Auguste Renoir ("Breakfast of the Rowers", "Ball at the Moulin de la Galette", "Dance in the Village", "Umbrellas", "Dance at Bougival", "Girls at the Piano"), Camille Pizarro ("Montmartre Boulevard at Night", "Harvesting at Eragny", "Reapers Resting", "Garden in Pontoise", "Entrance to the Village of Voisin") , Edgar Degas (“Dance Class”, “Rehearsal”, “Concert at the Ambassador Cafe”, “Opera Orchestra”, “Dancers in Blue”, “Absinthe Drinkers”), Georges Seurat (“Sunday”, “Can-Can”, "The Models") and others.
(Paul Cezanne "Pierrot and Harlequin"")
Four artists in the 90s of the 19th century create a new direction in art based on impressionism and call themselves post-impressionists (Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec). Their work is characterized by the transfer not of fleeting sensations and impressions from the surrounding world, but by the knowledge of the true essence of things, which is hidden under their outer shell. Their most famous works are: Paul Gauguin ("A mischievous joke", "La Orana Maria", "Jacob's fight with an angel", "Yellow Christ"), Paul Cezanne ("Pierrot and Harlequin", "Large Bathers", "Lady in Blue ”), Vincent Van Gogh (Starry Night”, “Sunflowers”, “Irises”), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (“Laundress”, “Toilet”, “Teaching Dance at the Moulin Rouge”).
Impressionism in sculpture
(Auguste Rodin "The Thinker")
As a separate trend in architecture, impressionism did not develop; you can find its individual features and signs in some sculptural compositions and monuments. Sculpture this style gives a free plasticity of soft forms, they create an amazing play of light on the surface of the figures and give a certain feeling of incompleteness, sculptural characters are often depicted at the moment of movement. The works in this direction include the sculptures of the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin ("The Kiss", "The Thinker", "The Poet and the Muse", "Romeo and Juliet", "Eternal Spring"), the Italian artist and sculptor Medardo Rosso (figures made of clay and gypsum filled with wax to achieve a unique light effect: “The Gatekeeper and the Procuress”, “Golden Age”, “Motherhood”), the Russian brilliant nugget Pavel Trubetskoy (a bronze bust of Leo Tolstoy, a monument to Alexander III in St. Petersburg).
The term "impressionism" arose with the light hand of the critic of the magazine Le Charivari Louis Leroy, who titled his feuilleton about the Salon of the Les Misérables "Impressionist Exhibition", taking as a basis the title of Claude Monet's painting "Impression. Rising sun" (fr. Impression, soleil levant). Initially, this term was somewhat disparaging, indicating a corresponding attitude towards artists who wrote in a new "careless" manner.
Impressionism in painting
origins
By the mid-1880s, impressionism gradually ceased to exist as a single direction, and disintegrated, giving a noticeable impetus to the evolution of art. By the beginning of the 20th century, the trend away from realism gained momentum, and a new generation of artists turned away from impressionism.
The emergence of the name
Decades have passed. And a new generation of artists will come to a real collapse of forms and impoverishment of content. Then both the critics and the public saw in the condemned Impressionists - realists, and a little later, the classics of French art. The specificity of the philosophy of impressionismFrench impressionism did not raise philosophical problems and did not even try to penetrate the colored surface of everyday life. Instead, Impressionism, being art to a certain extent campy and mannerist, focuses on superficiality, the fluidity of a moment, mood, lighting, or angle of view. Like the art of the Renaissance (Renaissance), impressionism is built on the features and skills of perceiving perspective. At the same time, the Renaissance vision explodes with the proven subjectivity and relativity of human perception, which makes color and form autonomous components of the image. For impressionism, it is not so important what is shown in the figure, but how it is shown is important. Impressionist paintings do not carry social criticism, do not touch upon social problems such as hunger, illness, death, presenting only the positive aspects of life. This later led to a split among the Impressionists themselves. Impressionism and society
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