French Impressionists Create Lasting

ImpressionsMegan Phelps (Marie-Clair)

French IProfessor Panaccione

L’autumne 2012

What is Impressionism?

“Impressionism, French Impressionnisme, a major movement, first in painting and later in music, that developed chiefly in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Impressionist painting comprises the work produced between about 1867 and 1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches and techniques. The most conspicuous characteristic of Impressionism was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and colour.”

Impressionism?

“…new approaches to art, painting the effects of light en plein air with broken color and rapid brushstrokes, in what later came to be known as Impressionism.”

“En Plein Air”

• French for “Outdoor” and a style of painting, employed quick brush strokes

• Very uncommon, simply had never been done before

The Exhibition of 1874

• Displayed works rejected by the salon

• Artists not taken seriously

• Citric titled this exhibit “Exhibition of the Impressionist” and the name stuck

French Salon

Franco-Prussian War in 1870

• War between France and Germany (Prussia)

• Effected the lives of many impressionist artists

• Some enlisted to fight, others moved out of France for the time being returning to ruin

The Artists

• Claude Monet• Camille Pissarro• Edgar Degas• Gustave Caillebotte

Claude Monte

• 1840-1926

• Attended Le Havre Secondary School of the Arts

• Married Camille Doncieux (featured in The Women in the Green Dress)

• Hard life of poverty with wife and son, Jean

Claude Monte Cont.

• Left France, due to War in 1870, with family to England

• Produced his best works after the death of his wife (1879)

• Died of lung cancer

Water Lilies, Claude Monet

Notice:

• Color (water)

• Reflection

The Woman in the Green Dress (La Femme à la Robe Verte) Claude

MonetNotice:

• Value, Darks

• Texture

La Promenade, Claude Monet

Notice:

• Texture

• Color

• Contrast

Impression Sunrise, Claude Monet

Notice:

• Brush Strokes

• Color, Grays

• Seeing what’s there

Camille Pissarro

• 1830-1903

• Married Julie Valley (maid in his mother’s household)

• 8 children, 1 (son) died at birth the other (daughter) died at the age of 9. All surviving children painted

Camille Pissarro Cont.

• War in 1870, fled from his home in Louveciennes. Many of his early paintings were destroyed by Persian Soldiers

• Developer of Impressionist technique “Father of Impressionism”

• Sold little of his paintings during his life• 2005: some of his works were selling in

the range of U.S. $2 to 4 million.

A Path in the Woods, Camille Pissarro

Notice:

• Blotting

• Color

• Texture

Bouquet of Flowers, Camille Pissarro

Notice:

• Value

• Color

Young Women Bathing Her Feet, Camille Pissarro

Notice:

• Value (light)

• Color (water)

Antilian Landscape, St. Thomas,Camille Pissarro

Notice:

• Value (light)

• Composition

Edgar Degas

• 1834-1917

• Began painting at a young age. Father wanted him to become a lawyer

• Enlisted in War in 1870, eyesight found to be defective

• He rejected the term “Impressionist”

Edgar Degas Cont.

• Belittled fellow Impressionists for painting landscape/outside

• Later worked with pastel (1907) sculpting (1912). Also photography

• Nearly blind by the end of his life

• Had a terrible reputation because he was always truthful

The Ballet Rehearsal on Stage, Edger Degas

Notice:

• Movement

• Light

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, Edgar Degas

Notice:

• Lifelike, 3D

• Texture (ribbon, and materials used)

The Song of the Dog, Edgar Degas

Notice:

• Light

• Color

• Texture

L Etiole, Edgar Degas

Notice:

• Color

• Movement

Gustave Caillebotte

• 1848-1894

• Born to upper-class Persian family

• Earned law degree, 1870

• Same year Drafted in Franco-Prussian War

Gustave Caillebotte Cont.

• Seriously study painting after war

• Never married, serious relationship with Charlotte Berthier, lower class

• Reputation as a “supporter of the arts”

• Used wealth for hobbies: stamp collecting, orchid horticulture, yacht building, & textile design

The Floor Scrappers 1875, Gustave Caillebotte

Notice:

• Texture

• Light (value)

Pairs Street: A Rainy Day, Gustave Caillebotte

Notice:

• Color

• Perspective

Vue toits, effet de neige (1878), Gustave Caillebotte

Notice:

• Value

• Perspective

Young Man Playing the Piano, Gustave Caillebotte

Notice:

• Color (light)

• Texture

Impressionism Video

• YouTube Video What is Impressionism?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJthUa536Hw&list=PLwA_OE9MY2PcO1KK4hK3CtiiAo0P5Blmd&index=5&feature=plpp_video

Merci!

Works Cited

•Camille Pissarro, The Complete Works. Creative Commons. http://www.camillepissarro.org/ Date Viewed: November 7, 2012•Claude Monet, The Complete Works. Creative Commons. http://www.claudemonetgallery.org/ Date Viewed: November 7, 2012•Edger Degas, The Complete Works. Creative Commons. http://www.edgar-degas.org/ •Date Viewed: November 9, 2012•Gustave Caillebotte, The Complete Works Creative Commons. http://www.gustavcaillebotte.org/ . Date Viewed: November 8, 2012•Kelder, Diane. The French Impressionist and Their Century. Passenger Publishers Inc. 1967. Print •Schaprio, Meyer. Impressionism Reflections and Perceptions. George Braziller, Inc.1997. Print