Artists of the Impressionist era. Impressionism style: paintings by famous artists

The term "impressionism" arose with light hand critic of the magazine “Le Charivari” Louis Leroy, who entitled his feuilleton about the Salon of Rejects “Exhibition of the Impressionists”, taking as a basis the title of Claude Monet’s painting “Impression. Rising sun "(French: Impression, soleil levant). Initially, this term was somewhat disparaging, indicating a corresponding attitude towards artists who painted in the new “careless” manner.

Impressionism in painting

Origins

By the mid-1880s, impressionism gradually ceased to exist as a single movement and disintegrated, giving a noticeable impetus to the evolution of art. By the beginning of the 20th century, trends away from realism gained momentum, and a new generation of artists turned away from impressionism.

Origin of the name

The first important exhibition of the Impressionists took place from April 15 to May 15, 1874 in the studio of the photographer Nadar. 30 artists were presented there, with a total of 165 works. Monet's canvas - “Impression. Rising Sun " ( Impression, soleil levant), now in the Marmottin Museum, Paris, written in 1872, gave birth to the term “Impressionism”: the little-known journalist Louis Leroy, in his article in the magazine “Le Charivari”, called the group “Impressionists” to express his disdain. Artists, out of defiance, accepted this epithet; later it took root, lost its original negative meaning and came into active use.

The name “impressionism” is quite meaningless, unlike the name “Barbizon school”, where at least there is an indication of the geographical location art group. There is even less clarity with some artists who were not formally included in the circle of the first impressionists, although their technical techniques and means are completely “impressionistic” - Whistler, Edouard Manet, Eugene Boudin, etc. In addition, the technical means of the impressionists were known long before XIX century and they were (partially, to a limited extent) used by Titian and Velazquez, without breaking with the dominant ideas of their era.

There was another article (by Emil Cardon) and another title - “Rebel Exhibition”, which was absolutely disapproving and condemning. It was precisely this that accurately reproduced the disapproving attitude of the bourgeois public and criticism towards artists (Impressionists), which had prevailed for years. The Impressionists were immediately accused of immorality, rebellious sentiments, and failure to be respectable. IN currently this is surprising, because it is not clear what is immoral in the landscapes of Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, everyday scenes of Edgar Degas, still lifes of Monet and Renoir.

Decades have passed. And the new generation of artists will come to a real collapse of forms and impoverishment of content. Then both criticism and the public saw the condemned impressionists as realists, and a little later as classics of French art.

Specifics of the philosophy of impressionism

French impressionism did not raise philosophical problems and did not even try to penetrate under the colored surface of everyday life. Instead, Impressionism, being a somewhat mannered and mannerist art, 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 characteristics and skills of perceiving perspective. At the same time, the Renaissance vision explodes with proven subjectivity and relativity human perception, which makes color and shape autonomous components of the image. For impressionism, it is not so important what is depicted in the picture, but how it is depicted is important.

Impressionist paintings do not carry social criticism and do not affect social problems such as hunger, disease, death, representing only positive aspects life. This later led to a split among the Impressionists themselves.

Impressionism and society

Impressionism is characterized by democracy. By inertia, art in the 19th century was considered a monopoly of aristocrats, upper strata population. They were the main customers for paintings and monuments, and they were the main buyers of paintings and sculptures. Plots with the hard work of peasants, the tragic pages of modern times, the shameful aspects of wars, poverty, and social unrest were condemned, disapproved, and not bought. Criticism of the blasphemous morality of society in the paintings of Theodore Gericault and Francois Millet found response only among supporters of the artists and a few experts.

The Impressionists took quite a compromise, intermediate position on this issue. Biblical, literary, mythological, and historical subjects inherent in official academicism were discarded. On the other hand, they fervently desired recognition, respect, even awards. Indicative is the activity of Edouard Manet, who for years sought recognition and awards from the official Salon and its administration.

Instead, a vision of everyday life and modernity emerged. Artists often painted people in motion, during fun or relaxation, presented the appearance of a certain place under certain lighting, and nature was also the motive of their works. Subjects of flirting, dancing, being in a cafe and theater, boating, on beaches and in gardens were taken. Judging by the paintings of the Impressionists, life is a series of small holidays, parties, pleasant pastimes outside the city or in a friendly environment (a number of paintings by Renoir, Manet and Claude Monet). The Impressionists were among the first to paint in the air, without finishing their work in the studio.

Technique

The new movement differed from academic painting both technically and ideologically. First of all, the Impressionists abandoned the contour, replacing it with small separate and contrasting strokes, which they applied in accordance with the color theories of Chevreul, Helmholtz and Rud. The sun's ray is split into components: violet, blue, cyan, green, yellow, orange, red, but since blue is a type of blue, their number is reduced to six. Two colors placed next to each other enhance each other and, conversely, when mixed they lose intensity. In addition, all colors are divided into primary, or basic, and dual, or derivative, with each dual color being complementary to the first:

Blue - Orange
Red Green
Yellow - Violet

Thus, it became possible not to mix paints on the palette and get desired color by correctly applying them to the canvas. This later became the reason for abandoning black.

Then the impressionists stopped concentrating all their work on canvases in the studios; now they prefer plein air, where it is more convenient to capture a fleeting impression of what they saw, which became possible thanks to the invention of steel paint tubes, which, unlike leather bags, could be closed so that the paint did not dry out.

The artists also used opaque paints, which do not transmit light well and are unsuitable for mixing because they quickly turn gray; this allowed them to create paintings without “ internal", A " external» light reflected from the surface.

Technical differences contributed to the achievement of other goals; first of all, the impressionists tried to capture a fleeting impression, minute changes in each subject, depending on the lighting and time of day, the highest embodiment was the cycles of Monet’s paintings “Haystacks”, “Rouen Cathedral” and “Parliament of London”.

In general, there were many masters working in the Impressionist style, but the foundation of the movement was Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Frédéric Bazille and Berthe Morisot. However, Manet always called himself an “independent artist” and never participated in exhibitions, and although Degas participated, he never painted his works en plein air.

Chronology by artist

Impressionists

Exhibitions

First exhibition(April 15 - May 15)

Second exhibition(April )

Address: st. Lepeletier, 11 (Durand-Ruel Gallery). Participants: Basil (posthumously, the artist died in 1870), Beliard, Bureau, Debutin, Degas, Caillebotte, Cals, Lever, Legros, Lepic, Millet, Monet, Morisot, L. Otten, Pissarro, Renoir, Roir, Sisley, Tillo, Francois

Third exhibition(April )

Address: st. Lepeletye, 6. Participants: Guillaumin, Degas, Caillebotte, Cals, Cordey, Lever, Lamy, Monet, Morisot, Alphonse Moreau, Piette, Pissarro, Renoir, Roir, Cezanne, Sisley, Tillo, Francois.

Fourth exhibition(April 10 - May 11)

Address: Avenue Opera, 28. Participants: Bracquemont, Madame Bracquemont, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Cals, Cassatt, Lebourg, Monet, Piette, Pissarro, Roir, Somm, Tillo, Foren.

Fifth exhibition(April 1 - April 30)

Address: st. Pyramid, 10. Participants: Bracquemont, Madame Bracquemont, Vidal, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Cassatt, Lebourg, Lever, Morisot, Pissarro, Raffaelli, Roir, Tillo, Foren.

Sixth exhibition(2 April - 1 May)

Address: Boulevard Capucines, 35 (studio of photographer Nadar). Participants: Vidal, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Cassatt, Morisot, Pissarro, Raffaelli, Roir, Tillo, Foren.

Seventh exhibition(March )

Address: Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, 251 (At Durand-Ruel). Participants: Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Caillebotte, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley.

Eighth exhibition(May 15 - June 15)

Address: st. Laffitte, 1. Participants: Madame Braquemont, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Casset, Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Lucien Pissarro, Redon, Roir, Seurat, Signac, Tillo, Forain, Schuffenecker.

Impressionism in literature

In literature, impressionism did not develop as a separate movement, but its features were reflected in naturalism and symbolism.

First of all, it is characterized by the expression of the author’s private impression, the rejection of an objective picture of reality, the depiction of every moment, which should have entailed the absence of plot, history and the replacement of thought with perception, and reason with instinct. The main features of the impressionist style were formulated by the Goncourt brothers in their work “Diary”, where the famous phrase “ Seeing, feeling, expressing - this is all art" has become a central position for many writers.

The word "Impressionism" is derived from the French "impression" - impression. This is a painting movement that originated in France in the 1860s. and largely determined the development of art in the 19th century. Central figures This movement included Cezanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley, and the contribution of each of them to its development is unique. The impressionists opposed the conventions of classicism, romanticism and academicism, affirmed the beauty of everyday reality, simple, democratic motives, achieved living authenticity of the image, tried to capture the “impression” of what the eye sees at a particular moment, without focusing on drawing specific details.

In the spring of 1874, a group of young painters, including Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Cezanne and Berthe Morisot, neglected the official Salon and staged their own exhibition. Such an act in itself was revolutionary and broke with centuries-old foundations, but the paintings of these artists at first glance seemed even more hostile to tradition. The reaction to this innovation from visitors and critics was far from friendly. They accused artists of painting simply to attract the attention of the public, and not like recognized masters. The most indulgent viewed their work as a mockery, as an attempt to make fun of honest people. It took years of fierce struggle before these later recognized classics of painting were able to convince the public not only of their sincerity, but also of their talent.

Trying to express their direct impressions of things as accurately as possible, the Impressionists created a new method of painting. Its essence was to convey the external impression of light, shadow, reflexes on the surface of objects with separate strokes of pure paint, which visually dissolved the form in the surrounding light-air environment. In their favorite genres (landscape, portrait, multi-figure composition), they sought to convey their fleeting impressions of the world around them (scenes on the street, in a cafe, sketches of Sunday walks, etc.). The Impressionists depicted a life full of natural poetry, where man is in unity with environment, ever-changing, amazing with the wealth and sparkle of the pure, bright colors.

After the first exhibition in Paris, these artists began to be called impressionists, from the French word “impression” - “impression”. This word was suitable for their works, because in them the artists conveyed their direct impression of what they saw. Artists took a new approach to depicting the world. The main topic for them it became a tremulous light, an air in which people and objects seemed to be immersed. In their paintings one could feel the wind, wet earth heated by the sun. They sought to show the amazing richness of color in nature. Impressionism was the last major art movement in France XIX century.

It cannot be said that the path of the impressionist artists was easy. At first they were not recognized, their painting was too bold and unusual, they were laughed at. Nobody wanted to buy their paintings. But they stubbornly went their own way. Neither poverty nor hunger could force them to abandon their beliefs. Many years passed, many of the Impressionist artists were no longer alive when their art was finally recognized.

All of these are very different artists united by a common struggle against conservatism and academicism in art. The Impressionists held eight exhibitions, the last in 1886. This actually ends the history of impressionism as a movement in painting, after which each of the artists went their own way.

One of the paintings presented at the first exhibition of “independents,” as the artists themselves preferred to call themselves, belonged to Claude Monet and was called “Impression. Sunrise". In a newspaper review of the exhibition that appeared the next day, critic L. Leroy in every possible way mocked the lack of “made form” in the paintings, ironically inclining in every possible way the word “impression” (impression), as if replacing it in the works of young artists true art. Contrary to expectations, the new word, uttered in mockery, caught on and served as the name of the entire movement, since it perfectly expressed the common thing that united all participants in the exhibition - the subjective experience of color, light, space. Trying to express their direct impressions of things as accurately as possible, artists freed themselves from traditional rules and created a new method of painting.

The Impressionists put forward their own principles of perception and display of the surrounding world. They erased the line between the main subjects worthy high art, and secondary objects, established a straight line between them and feedback. The impressionistic method thus became the maximum expression of the very principle of picturesqueness. The pictorial approach to the image precisely involves identifying the connections of the object with the world around it. New method forced the viewer to decipher not so much the twists and turns of the plot as the secrets of the painting itself.

The essence of the impressionistic vision of nature and its depiction lies in the weakening of the active, analytical perception of three-dimensional space and its reduction to the original two-dimensionality of the canvas, determined by a flat visual attitude, in the words of A. Hildebrand, “distant looking at nature,” which leads to the distraction of the depicted object from its material qualities, merging with the environment, almost completely transforming it into “appearance”, an appearance that dissolves in light and air. It is no coincidence that P. Cezanne later called the leader French impressionists Claude Monet "only with the eye." This “detachment” of visual perception also led to the suppression of “memory color,” i.e., the connection of color with habitual object concepts and associations, according to which the sky is always blue and the grass is green. The impressionists could, depending on their vision, paint the sky green and the grass blue. “Objective plausibility” was sacrificed to the laws of visual perception. For example, J. Seurat enthusiastically told everyone how he discovered that the orange coastal sand in the shade is bright blue. Thus, the painting method was based on the principle of contrasting perception of complementary colors.

For an impressionist artist, for the most part, it is not what he depicts that is important, but “how” is important. The object becomes only a pretext for solving purely pictorial, “visual” problems. Therefore, impressionism initially had another, later forgotten name - “chromanticism” (from the Greek Chroma - color). The Impressionists updated their color scheme; they abandoned dark, earthy colors and applied pure, spectral colors to the canvas, almost without mixing them first on the palette. The naturalism of impressionism consisted in the fact that the most uninteresting, ordinary, prosaic turned into the beautiful, as soon as the artist saw the subtle nuances of gray and blue.

Characterized by brevity and etude creative method impressionism. After all, only a short sketch made it possible to accurately record individual states of nature. The Impressionists were the first to break with the traditional principles of spatial construction of a painting, dating back to the Renaissance and Baroque. They used asymmetrical compositions to better highlight those they were interested in characters and objects. But the paradox was that, having abandoned the naturalism of academic art, destroying its canons and declaring the aesthetic value of recording everything fleeting, random, the impressionists remained captive of naturalistic thinking and, moreover, in many ways this was a step back. One may recall the words of O. Spengler that “Rembrandt’s landscape lies somewhere in the endless spaces of the world, while Claude Monet’s landscape lies near the railway station”

The term “impressionism” arose with the light hand of the critic of the magazine “Le Charivari” Louis Leroy, who entitled his feuilleton about the Salon of Les Miserables “Exhibition of the Impressionists”, taking as a basis the title of Claude Monet’s painting “” (French: Impression, soleil levant). Initially, this term was somewhat disparaging, indicating a corresponding attitude towards artists who painted in the new “careless” manner.

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Subtitles

Impressionism in painting

Origins

By the mid-1880s, impressionism gradually ceased to exist as a single movement and disintegrated, giving a noticeable impetus to the evolution of art. By the beginning of the twentieth century, trends away from realism gained strength and a new generation of artists turned away from impressionism.

Origin of the name

The first important exhibition of the Impressionists took place from April 15 to May 15, 1874 in the studio of the photographer Nadar. 30 artists were presented there, with a total of 165 works. Monet's canvas - “Impression. Rising Sun " ( Impression, soleil levant), now in the Marmotten Museum, Paris, written in 1872, gave birth to the term “Impressionism”: the little-known journalist Louis Leroy, in his article in the magazine “Le Charivari”, called the group “Impressionists” to express his disdain. Artists, out of defiance, accepted this epithet; later it took root, lost its original negative meaning and came into active use.

The name “impressionism” is quite meaningless, unlike the name “Barbizon school”, where at least there is an indication of the geographical location of the artistic group. There is even less clarity with some artists who were not formally included in the circle of the first impressionists, although their technical techniques and means are completely “impressionistic” - Whistler, Edouard Manet, Eugene Boudin, etc. In addition, the technical means of the impressionists were known long before XIX century and they were (partially, to a limited extent) used by Titian and Velazquez, without breaking with the dominant ideas of their era.

There was another article (by Emil Cardon) and another title - “Rebel Exhibition”, which was absolutely disapproving and condemning. It was precisely this that accurately reproduced the disapproving attitude of the bourgeois public and criticism towards artists (Impressionists), which had prevailed for years. The Impressionists were immediately accused of immorality, rebellious sentiments, and failure to be respectable. At the moment, this is surprising, because it is not clear what is immoral in the landscapes of Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, everyday scenes of Edgar Degas, still lifes of Monet and Renoir.

Specifics of the philosophy of impressionism

French impressionism did not raise philosophical problems and did not even try to penetrate beneath the colored surface of everyday life. Instead, Impressionism, being a somewhat mannered and mannerist art, 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 characteristics 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 depicted in the picture, but how it is depicted is important.

Impressionist paintings do not carry social criticism, do not address social problems such as hunger, disease, death, presenting only the positive aspects of life. This later led to a split among the Impressionists themselves.

Impressionism and society

Impressionism is characterized by democracy. By inertia, art even in the 19th century was considered a monopoly of aristocrats and the upper strata of the population. They were the main customers for paintings and monuments, and they were the main buyers of paintings and sculptures. Plots with the hard work of peasants, the tragic pages of modern times, the shameful aspects of wars, poverty, and social unrest were condemned, disapproved, and not bought. Criticism of the blasphemous morality of society in the paintings of Theodore Gericault and Francois Millet found response only among supporters of the artists and a few experts.

Technique

Blue - Orange
Red Green
Yellow - Violet

Thus, it became possible not to mix paints on the palette and obtain the desired color by correctly applying them to the canvas. This later became the reason for abandoning black.

Technical differences contributed to the achievement of other goals, first of all, the impressionists tried to capture a fleeting impression, the smallest changes in each object depending on lighting and time of day; the highest embodiment was the cycles of paintings by Monet “Haystacks”, “Rouen Cathedral” and “Parliament of London”.

In general, there were many masters working in the Impressionist style, but the core of the movement was Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Frédéric Bazile and Berthe Morisot. However, Manet always called himself an “independent artist” and never participated in exhibitions, and although Degas participated, he never painted his works en plein air.

Chronology by artist

Impressionists

Exhibitions

First exhibition(April 15 - May 15)

Address: Capuchin Boulevard, 35 (studio of photographer Nadar). Participants: Astruc, Attendu, Beliard, Bracquemont, Brandon, Boudin, Bureau, Guillaumin, Debra, Degas, Cals, Colin, La Touche, Lever, Lepic, Lepine, Meyer, de Molin, Monet, Morisot, Mulot-Durivage, Giuseppe De Nittis , A. Otten, L. Otten,

Impressionism is a movement in painting that originated in France in XIX-XX centuries, which is an artistic attempt to capture some moment of life in all its variability and mobility. Impressionist paintings are like a well-washed photograph, reviving in fantasy the continuation of the story seen. In this article we will look at the 10 most famous impressionists peace. Fortunately, talented artists much more than ten, twenty or even a hundred, so let's focus on those names that you definitely need to know.

In order not to offend either the artists or their admirers, the list is given in Russian alphabetical order.

1. Alfred Sisley

This French painter English origin considered the most famous landscape painter second half of the 19th century century. His collection contains more than 900 paintings, of which the most famous are “Rural Alley”, “Frost in Louveciennes”, “Bridge in Argenteuil”, “Early Snow in Louveciennes”, “Lawns in Spring”, and many others.

2. Van Gogh

Known around the world sad story about his ear (by the way, he did not cut off his entire ear, but only the lobe), Wang Gon became popular only after his death. And during his life he was able to sell one single painting, 4 months before his death. They say he was both an entrepreneur and a priest, but he often found himself in psychiatric hospitals due to depression, so all the rebelliousness of his existence resulted in legendary works.

3. Camille Pissarro

Pissarro was born on the island of St. Thomas, into a family of bourgeois Jews, and was one of the few impressionists whose parents encouraged his passion and soon sent him to Paris to study. Most of all, the artist liked nature, he depicted it in all colors, and to be more precise, Pissarro had a special talent for choosing the softness of colors, compatibility, after which air seemed to appear in the paintings.

4. Claude Monet

Since childhood, the boy decided that he would become an artist, despite family prohibitions. Having moved to Paris on his own, Claude Monet plunged into the gray everyday life of a hard life: two years of service in the armed forces in Algeria, litigation with creditors due to poverty and illness. However, one gets the feeling that the difficulties did not oppress, but, on the contrary, inspired the artist to create such bright pictures, like “Impression, Sunrise”, “Houses of Parliament in London”, “Bridge to Europe”, “Autumn in Argenteuil”, “On the Shores of Trouville”, and many others.

5. Konstantin Korovin

It's nice to know that among the French, the parents of impressionism, we can proudly place our compatriot, Konstantin Korovin. A passionate love for nature helped him intuitively give unimaginable liveliness to a static picture, thanks to the connection suitable colors, width of strokes, choice of theme. It is impossible to pass by his paintings “Pier in Gurzuf”, “Fish, Wine and Fruit”, “ Autumn landscape», « Moonlight night. Winter" and a series of his works dedicated to Paris.

6. Paul Gauguin

Until the age of 26, Paul Gauguin did not even think about painting. He was an entrepreneur and had big family. However, when I first saw the paintings of Camille Pissarro, I decided that I would definitely start painting. Over time, the artist’s style changed, but the most famous impressionistic paintings are “Garden in the Snow”, “At the Cliff”, “On the Beach in Dieppe”, “Nude”, “Palm Trees in Martinique” and others.

7. Paul Cezanne

Cezanne, unlike most of his colleagues, became famous during his lifetime. He managed to organize his own exhibition and earn considerable income from it. People knew a lot about his paintings - he, like no one else, learned to combine the play of light and shadow, placed a strong emphasis on regular and irregular geometric shapes, the severity of the theme of his paintings was in harmony with romance.

8. Pierre Auguste Renoir

Until the age of 20, Renoir worked as a fan decorator for his older brother, and only then moved to Paris, where he met Monet, Basil and Sisley. This acquaintance helped him in the future to take the path of impressionism and become famous on it. Renoir is known as the author of sentimental portraits, among his most outstanding works are “On the Terrace”, “A Walk”, “Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary”, “The Lodge”, “Alfred Sisley and His Wife”, “On the Swing”, “The Paddling Pool” and a lot others.

9. Edgar Degas

If you haven't heard of Blue Dancers, Ballet Rehearsal, Ballet school" and "Absinthe" - hurry up to learn about the work of Edgar Degas. The selection of original colors, unique themes for paintings, a sense of movement of the picture - all this and much more made Degas one of the most famous artists peace.

10. Edouard Manet

Don't confuse Manet with Monet - they are two different people, who worked at the same time and in the same artistic direction. Manet was always attracted to scenes of everyday life, unusual appearances and types, as if accidentally “caught” moments, subsequently captured for centuries. Among famous paintings Manet: “Olympia”, “Luncheon on the Grass”, “Bar at the Folies Bergere”, “The Flutist”, “Nana” and others.

If you have even the slightest opportunity to see the paintings of these masters live, you will forever fall in love with impressionism!

European art of the late 19th century was enriched by the emergence of modernism. Its influence later spread to music and literature. It was called “impressionism” because it was based on the artist’s subtlest impressions, images and moods.

Origins and history

Several young artists formed a group in the second half of the 19th century. They had a common goal and the same interests. The main thing for this company was to work in nature, without workshop walls and various limiting factors. In their paintings they sought to convey all the sensuality, the impression of the play of light and shadow. Landscapes and portraits reflected the unity of the soul with the Universe, with the surrounding world. Their paintings are true poetry of colors.

In 1874, an exhibition of this group of artists was held. Landscape by Claude Monet “Impression. Sunrise” caught the eye of the critic, who in his review for the first time called these creators impressionists (from the French impression - “impression”).

The prerequisites for the birth of the style of impressionism, the paintings of whose representatives would soon become incredible success, steel works of the Renaissance. The work of the Spaniards Velazquez, El Greco, the English Turner, Constable unconditionally influenced the French, who were the founders of impressionism.

Prominent representatives of the style in France were Pissarro, Manet, Degas, Sisley, Cézanne, Monet, Renoir and others.

Philosophy of impressionism in painting

The artists who painted in this style did not set themselves the task of attracting public attention to troubles. In their works one cannot find subjects on the topic of the day; one cannot receive a moral lesson or notice human contradictions.

Paintings in the impressionist style are aimed at conveying a momentary mood, developing color solutions mysterious nature. There is only room for a positive beginning in the works; gloominess avoided the impressionists.

In fact, the impressionists did not bother themselves with thinking through the plot and details. The most important factor It wasn’t about what to draw, but how to portray and convey my mood.

Painting technique

The difference between the academic style of drawing and the technique of the impressionists is colossal. They simply abandoned many methods, and changed some beyond recognition. Here are the innovations they introduced:

We abandoned the circuit. It was replaced with strokes - small and contrasting.
We stopped using palettes for colors that complement each other and do not require merging to achieve a certain effect. For example, yellow is purple.
Stopped painting in black.
They completely abandoned work in workshops. They painted exclusively on location, to make it easier to capture a moment, an image, a feeling.
Only paints with good covering power were used.
We didn’t wait for the new layer to dry. Fresh strokes were applied immediately.
They created cycles of works to follow changes in light and shadow. For example, “Haystacks” by Claude Monet.

Of course, not all artists followed the exact features of the Impressionist style. Paintings by Édouard Manet, for example, never participated in joint exhibitions, and he positioned himself as a separate standing artist. Edgar Degas worked only in workshops, but this did not harm the quality of his works.

Representatives of French Impressionism

The first exhibition of Impressionist works dates back to 1874. 12 years later, their last exhibition took place. The first work in this style can be called “Lunch on the Grass” by E. Manet. This painting was presented in the "Salon of the Rejected". It was met with hostility because it was very different from the academic canons. That is why Manet becomes a figure around whom a circle of followers of this stylistic movement gathers.

Unfortunately, contemporaries did not appreciate such a style as impressionism. Paintings and artists existed in disagreement with official art.

Gradually, Claude Monet came to the fore in the group of painters, who would later become their leader and the main ideologist of impressionism.

Claude Monet (1840—1926)

The work of this artist can be described as a hymn to impressionism. It was he who was the first to abandon the use of black in his paintings, citing the fact that even shadows and night have different tones.

The world in Monet’s paintings is unclear outlines, spacious strokes, looking at which you can feel the whole spectrum of the play of colors of day and night, seasons, and the harmony of the sublunary world. Just a moment that was snatched from the flow of life, in Monet’s understanding, is impressionism. His paintings seem to have no materiality; they are all saturated with rays of light and air currents.

Claude Monet created amazing works: “Gare Saint-Lazare”, “ Rouen Cathedral", the series "Charing Cross Bridge" and many others.

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir's creations create an impression extraordinary lightness, airiness, ethereality. The plot was born as if by chance, but it is known that the artist carefully thought through all stages of his work and worked from morning to night.

A distinctive feature of O. Renoir's work is the use of glaze, which is only possible when painting. Impressionism in the artist's works is manifested in every stroke. He perceives a person as a particle of nature itself, which is why there are so many paintings with nudes.

Renoir's favorite pastime was depicting a woman in all her attractive and attractive beauty. Portraits occupy a special place in creative life artist. “Umbrellas”, “Girl with a Fan”, “Breakfast of the Rowers” - only small part an amazing collection of paintings by Auguste Renoir.

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Seurat associated the process of creating paintings with the scientific substantiation of color theory. The light-air environment was drawn based on the dependence of the main and additional tones.

Despite the fact that J. Seurat is a representative of the final stage of impressionism, and his technique is in many ways different from the founders, he, in the same way, creates with the help of strokes an illusory representation of an object form, which can be viewed and seen only from a distance.

The paintings “Sunday Afternoon”, “Cancan”, “Models” can be called masterpieces of creativity.

Representatives of Russian impressionism

Russian impressionism arose almost spontaneously, mixing many phenomena and methods. However, the basis, like the French, was a natural vision of the process.

In Russian impressionism, although the features of the French were preserved, the peculiarities of national nature and state of mind made significant changes. For example, visions of snow or northern landscapes were expressed using unusual techniques.

In Russia, few artists worked in the impressionist style; their paintings still attract attention to this day.

The impressionistic period can be distinguished in the work of Valentin Serov. His "Girl with Peaches" - the clearest example and the standard of this style in Russia.

The paintings captivate with their freshness and harmony of pure colors. The main theme of this artist’s work is the depiction of man in nature. “Northern Idyll”, “In a Boat”, “Fedor Chaliapin” are bright milestones in K. Korovin’s work.

Impressionism in modern times

Currently, this direction in art has received new life. IN this style several artists paint their own paintings. Modern impressionism exists in Russia (Andre Cohn), in France (Laurent Parselier), in America (Diana Leonard).

Andre Cohn is the most prominent representative of the new impressionism. His oil paintings are striking in their simplicity. The artist sees beauty in everyday things. The creator interprets many objects through the prism of movement.

The whole world knows Laurent Parselier's watercolor works. His series of works Strange world"was released in the form of postcards. Magnificent, vibrant and sensual, they will take your breath away.

As in the 19th century, at the moment, artists remain plein air painting. Thanks to her, impressionism will live forever. artists continue to be inspired, impressed and encouraged.