The history of the formation of impressionism in painting and music. How does Russian impressionism in painting differ from French? Impressionist authors

Impressionism is an artistic movement that emerged in the 70s. 19th century French painting, and then manifested itself in music, literature, theater.

Impressionism in painting began to take shape long before the famous exhibition of 1874. Edouard Manet is traditionally considered the founder of the Impressionists. He was very inspired by the classical works of Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velazquez. Manet expressed his vision of the images on his canvases, adding “vibrating” strokes that created the effect of incompleteness. In 1863, Manet created Olympia, which caused a great scandal in cultural society.

At first glance, the picture was made in line with traditional canons, but at the same time it already carried innovative trends. About 87 reviews were written about Olympia in various Parisian publications. She was hit with a lot of negative criticism - the artist was accused of vulgarity. And only a few articles could be called favorable.

Manet used a single-layer paint technique in his work, which created a stained effect. Subsequently, this technique of applying paint was adopted by impressionist artists as the basis for images on paintings.

A distinctive feature of impressionism was the subtlest recording of fleeting impressions, in a special manner of reproducing the light environment with the help of a complex mosaic of pure colors and cursory decorative strokes.

It is curious that at the beginning of their search, the artists used a cyanometer - an instrument for determining the blueness of the sky. Black color was excluded from the palette, it was replaced by others color shades, which made it possible not to spoil the sunny mood of the paintings.

The impressionists focused on the latest scientific discoveries of its time. The color theory of Chevreul and Helmholtz boils down to the following: the sun's ray is split into its component colors, and, accordingly, two paints placed on the canvas enhance the pictorial effect, and when mixed the paints lose intensity.

The aesthetics of impressionism developed, in part, as an attempt to decisively free ourselves from the conventions of classicism in art, as well as from the persistent symbolism and profundity of late romantic painting, which invited everyone to see encrypted plans that needed careful interpretation. Impressionism asserted not just the beauty of everyday reality, but the capture of a colorful atmosphere, without detailing or interpreting, depicting the world as an ever-changing optical phenomenon.

Impressionist artists developed a complete plein air system. The predecessors of this stylistic feature there were landscape painters who came from the Barbizon school, the main representatives of which were Camille Corot and John Constable.

Working in open space gave more possibilities capture the slightest color changes in different time days.

Claude Monet created several series of paintings on the same subject, for example, “Rouen Cathedral” (a series of 50 paintings), “Haystacks” (a series of 15 paintings), “Pond with Water Lilies”, etc. The main indicator of these series there was a change in light and color in the image of the same object painted at different times of the day.

Another achievement of impressionism is the development of an original painting system, where complex tones are decomposed into pure colors conveyed by individual strokes. The artists did not mix colors on the palette, but preferred to apply strokes directly to the canvas. This technique gave the paintings a special trepidation, variability and relief. The artists' works were filled with color and light.

The exhibition on April 15, 1874 in Paris was the result of the period of formation and presentation of a new movement to the general public. The exhibition took place in the studio of photographer Felix Nadar on the Boulevard des Capucines.

The name “Impressionism” arose after an exhibition at which Monet’s painting “Impression” was exhibited. Sunrise". The critic L. Leroy, in his review in the publication Charivari, gave a humorous description of the exhibition of 1874, citing the example of Monet’s work. Another critic, Maurice Denis, reproached the impressionists for their lack of individuality, feeling, and poetry.

At the first exhibition, about 30 artists showed their works. It was the most a large number of, compared with subsequent exhibitions up to 1886.

It is impossible not to say about positive reviews from Russian society. Russian artists and democratic critics, always keenly interested artistic life France - I. V. Kramskoy, I. E. Repin and V. V. Stasov - highly appreciated the achievements of the impressionists from the very first exhibition.

The new stage in the history of art, which began with the exhibition of 1874, was not a sudden explosion of revolutionary tendencies - it was the culmination of a slow and gradual development.

While all the great masters of the past contributed to the development of the principles of impressionism, the immediate roots of the movement can most easily be discovered in the twenty years preceding the historical exhibition.

In parallel with the exhibitions at the Salon, Impressionist exhibitions were gaining momentum. Their works demonstrated new trends in painting. This was a reproach to salon culture and exhibition traditions. Subsequently, impressionist artists managed to attract admirers of new trends in art to their side.

Theoretical knowledge and formulations of impressionism began to develop quite late. Artists preferred more practice and their own experiments with light and color. In impressionism, primarily pictorial, the legacy of realism can be traced; it clearly expresses the anti-academic, anti-salon orientation and installation of the image surrounding reality that time. Some researchers note that impressionism has become a special branch of realism.

Undoubtedly, in impressionistic art, as in every artistic movement that arises during a period of turning point and crisis of old traditions, various and even contradictory trends were intertwined, despite all its external integrity.

The fundamental features were the themes of the artists’ works, the means artistic expression. Irina Vladimirova’s book about the impressionists includes several chapters: “Landscape, nature, impressions”, “City, places of meetings and partings”, “Hobbies as a way of life”, “People and characters”, “Portraits and self-portraits”, “Still life”. It also describes the creation history and location of each work.

During the heyday of impressionism, artists found a harmonious balance between objective reality and its perception. The artists tried to capture every ray of light, the movement of the breeze, and the changeability of nature. To preserve the freshness of their paintings, the Impressionists created an original painting system, which later turned out to be very important for the further development of art. Despite the general trends in painting, each artist found his own creative path and main genres in painting.

Classical impressionism is represented by such artists as Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Jean Frédéric Bazille, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas.

Let's consider the contribution of some artists to the development of impressionism.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Manet received his first painting lessons from T. Couture, thanks to this future artist acquired a lot of necessary professional skills. Due to the lack of proper attention from the teacher to his students, Manet leaves the master’s atelier and engages in self-education. He attends exhibitions in museums; his creative formation was greatly influenced by the old masters, especially Spanish ones.

In the 1860s, Manet wrote two works in which the basic principles of his artistic style are visible. Lola of Valencia (1862) and The Flutist (1866) show Manet as an artist who reveals the character of his subject through the rendering of color.

His ideas on brushstrokes and his approach to color were adopted by other Impressionist artists. In the 1870s, Manet became closer to his followers and worked plein air without black on the palette. The arrival to impressionism was the result of the creative evolution of Manet himself. Manet's most impressionistic paintings are “In a Boat” (1874) and “Claude Monet in a Boat” (1874).

Manet also painted many portraits of various society ladies, actresses, models, beautiful women. Each portrait conveyed the uniqueness and individuality of the model.

Shortly before his death, Manet painted one of his masterpieces - “Bar Folies-Bergère” (1881-1882). This painting combines several genres: portrait, still life, everyday scene.

N. N. Kalitina writes: “The magic of Manet’s art is such that the girl confronts her surroundings, thanks to which her mood is so clearly revealed, and at the same time is a part, for the entire background, vaguely discernible, vague, worrying, is also resolved in blue-black , bluish-white, yellow tones.”

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Claude Monet was the undoubted leader and founder of classical impressionism. The main genre of his painting was landscape.

In his youth, Monet was fond of caricature and caricature. The first models for his works were his teachers and comrades. He used cartoons in newspapers and magazines as a model. He copied the drawings in Gaulois by E. Carge, a poet and caricaturist, a friend of Gustave Coubret.

At college, Monet's painting was taught by Jacques-François Hauchard. But it is fair to note the influence on Monet of Boudin, who supported the artist, gave him advice, and motivated him to continue his work.

In November 1862, Monet continued his studies in Paris with Gleyre. Thanks to this, Monet met Basil, Renoir, and Sisley in his studio. Young artists were preparing to enter the School fine arts, respecting his teacher, who charged little for his lessons and gave advice in a gentle manner.

Monet created his paintings not as a story, not as an illustration of an idea or theme. His painting, like life, had no clear goals. He saw the world without focusing on details, on some principles, he went towards a “landscape vision” (the term of the art historian A. A. Fedorov-Davydov). Monet strove for plotlessness and a fusion of genres on canvas. The means of implementing his innovations were sketches, which were supposed to become finished paintings. All sketches were drawn from life.

He painted meadows, hills, flowers, rocks, gardens, village streets, the sea, beaches and much more; he turned to depicting nature at different times of the day. He often wrote the same place at different times, thereby creating entire cycles from his works. The principle of his work was not the depiction of objects in the picture, but the accurate transmission of light.

Let us give a few examples of the artist’s works - “Field of Poppies at Argenteuil” (1873), “Splash Pool” (1869), “Pond with Water Lilies” (1899), “Wheat Stacks” (1891).

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir refers to outstanding masters secular portrait; in addition, he worked in the genres of landscape, everyday scenes, and still life.

The peculiarity of his work is his interest in the personality of a person, the revelation of his character and soul. In his canvases, Renoir tries to emphasize the feeling of the fullness of existence. The artist is attracted to entertainment and celebrations; he paints balls, walks with their movement and variety of characters, and dances.

The most famous works artist - “Portrait of the actress Jeanne Samary”, “Umbrellas”, “Bathing in the Seine”, etc.

It is interesting that Renoir was distinguished by his musicality and as a child sang in a church choir under the leadership of the outstanding composer and teacher Charles Gounod in Paris at the Saint-Eustache Cathedral. C. Gounod strongly recommended that the boy study music. But at the same time, Renoir discovered in himself artistic talent- from the age of 13 he already learned to paint porcelain dishes.

Music lessons influenced the development of the artist’s personality. Whole line His works are related to musical themes. They reflect the playing of piano, guitar, and mandolin. These are the paintings “Guitar Lesson”, “Young Spanish Woman with a Guitar”, “Young Lady at the Piano”, “Woman Playing the Guitar”, “Piano Lesson”, etc.

Jean Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870)

According to his artist friends, Basil was the most promising and outstanding impressionist.

His works are vibrant color scheme and spirituality of images. Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet had a great influence on his creative path. Jean Frederic's apartment was a kind of studio and housing for aspiring painters.

Basil primarily painted en plein air. The main idea of ​​his work was the image of man against the backdrop of nature. His first heroes in the paintings were his artist friends; many impressionists were very fond of drawing each other in their works.

Frédéric Bazille, in his creative work, outlined the movement of realistic impressionism. His most famous painting, Family Reunion (1867), is autobiographical. The artist depicts his family members on it. This work was presented at the Salon and received approval from the public.

In 1870, the artist died in the Prussian-French War. After the artist’s death, his artist friends organized a third exhibition of impressionists, where his paintings were also exhibited.

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Camille Pissarro is one of the largest representatives of landscape artists after C. Monet. His works were constantly exhibited in Impressionist exhibitions. In his works, Pissarro preferred to depict plowed fields, peasant life and labor. His paintings were distinguished by their structural forms and clarity of composition.

Later, the artist began to paint paintings on urban themes. N. N. Kalitina notes in her book: “He looks at the city streets from the windows of the upper floors or from the balconies, without introducing them into the composition.”

Under the influence of Georges-Pierre Seurat, the artist took up pointillism. This technique involves applying each stroke separately, as if putting dots. But creative prospects in this area were not realized, and Pissarro returned to impressionism.

Pissarro's most famous paintings were “Boulevard Montmartre. Afternoon, sunny”, “Opera Passage in Paris”, “French Theater Square in Paris”, “Garden in Pontoise”, “Harvest”, “Haymaking”, etc.

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)

Alfred Sisley's main genre of painting was landscape. In his early works The influence of K. Corot is mainly visible. Gradually, in the process of working together with C. Monet, J. F. Bazille, P. O. Renoir, light colors begin to appear in his works.

The artist is attracted by the play of light, the change in the state of the atmosphere. Sisley turned to the same landscape several times, capturing it at different times of the day. The artist gave priority in his works to images of water and sky, which changed every second. The artist managed to achieve perfection with the help of color; each shade in his works carries a unique symbolism.

His most famous works: “Rural Alley” (1864), “Frost in Louveciennes” (1873), “View of Montmartre from the Flower Island” (1869), “Early Snow in Louveciennes” (1872), “Bridge at Argenteuil” (1872 ).

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Edgar Degas is an artist who began his creative journey by studying at the School of Fine Arts. He was inspired by the artists of the Italian Renaissance, which influenced his work as a whole. At the beginning, Degas painted historical paintings, for example, “Spartan girls challenge Spartan boys to a competition. (1860). The main genre of his painting is portrait. In his works, the artist relies on classical traditions. He creates works marked by a keen sense of his time.

Unlike his colleagues, Degas does not share the joyful, open view of life and things inherent in impressionism. The artist is closer to the critical tradition of art: compassion for fate common man, the ability to see the souls of people, their inner world, inconsistency, tragedy.

For Degas, the objects and interior surrounding a person play a big role in creating a portrait. Here are a few works as examples: “Désirée Dio with Orchestra” (1868-1869), “ Female portrait"(1868), "The Morbilli Couple" (1867), etc.

The principle of portraiture in Degas’s works can be traced throughout his entire creative career. In the 1870s, the artist depicted in full glory the society of France, in particular Paris, in his works. The artist's interests include urban life in motion. “Movement was for him one of the most important manifestations of life, and the ability of art to convey it was the most important achievement modern painting"- writes N.N. Kalitina.

During this period of time, such films as “The Star” (1878), “Miss Lola in Fernando’s Circus”, “Horsing at Epsom”, etc. were created.

A new round of Degas’s creativity was his interest in ballet. It shows the behind-the-scenes life of ballerinas, talking about their hard work and rigorous training. But, despite this, the artist manages to find airiness and lightness in the rendering of their images.

In the ballet series of paintings by Degas, achievements in the field of transmitting artificial light from the stage are visible; they speak of the artist’s coloristic talent. The most famous paintings"Blue Dancers" (1897), " Dance class"(1874), "Dancer with a Bouquet" (1877), "Dancers in Pink" (1885) and others.

At the end of his life, due to deteriorating eyesight, Degas tried his hand at sculpture. His objects are the same ballerinas, women, horses. In sculpture, Degas tries to convey movement, and in order to appreciate the sculpture, you need to look at it from different angles.

Impressionism(French impressionnisme, from impression - impression) - a movement in the 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 capture the most naturally real world in its mobility and variability, to convey your fleeting impressions.

1. Liberation from the traditions of realism (no mythological, biblical or historical paintings, only modern life).

2. Observation and study of the surrounding reality. Not what it sees, but how it sees from the position of the perceived “visual essence of things”

3. Everyday life modern city. Psychology of a city dweller. Dynamics of life. Pace, rhythm of life.

4. “The effect of an extended moment”

5. Search for new forms. Small size works (studies, framing). Not typical, but random.

6. Seriality of paintings (Monet “Haystacks”)

7. The novelty of the painting system. Open pure color. Relief, a rich collection of reflexes, trepidation.

8. Mixing genres.

Edouard Manet - innovator. From dull dense tones to light painting. Fragmentation of compositions.

"Olympia"- relies on Titian, Giorgione, Goya. Victoria Muran posed. Venus is depicted as a modern cocotte. There is a black cat at my feet. A black woman presents a bouquet. The background is dark, the warm tone of the woman's body is like a pearl on the blue sheets. The volume is disrupted. There is no cut-off modeling.

"Breakfast on the Grass"- model and two artists + landscape + still life. Black frock coats form a contrast with the naked body.

"Flutist"- impression of the music.

"Bar Folies Bergere" - The girl is a bartender. The thrill of a glimpsed moment. The loneliness of a bustling city. The illusion of happiness. I put it on the entire canvas (inaccessible in my thoughts, but accessible to the bar’s clients). A full hall of visitors is an image of the world.

Claude Monet - abandoned the traditional sequence (underpainting, glazing, etc.) - ala prima

"Impression. Rising Sun" - fieria yellow, orange, green. The boat is a visual accent. An elusive, unfinished landscape, no contours. Variability of the light-air environment. Rays of light change vision.

"Breakfast on the Grass" - edge of the forest, impression of a picnic , dark green color scheme interspersed with brown and black. The foliage turns out wet. The woman’s clothes and tablecloth are illuminated, filled with air, light through the foliage.

"Boulevard des Capucines in Paris" - fragmentary. Cuts off two people who are looking at the boulevard from the balcony. A crowd of people is the life of the city. Half in the light from the setting sun, and half in the shadow of the building. No visual center, instant impression.

"Rocks at Belle-Ile» - a moving mass of water dominates (thick strokes). Rainbow hues applied energetically. Rocks are reflected in water, and water is reflected in rocks. Feeling the power of the elements, boiling green-blue water. Composition with a high horizon.

"Gare Saint-Lazare" - the interior of the station is shown, but more interested in the locomotive and steam, which is everywhere (fascination with fog, lilac haze).

Pierre Auguste Renoir- an artist of joy, known primarily as a master of secular portraiture, not devoid of sentimentality.

"Swing"- permeated with a warm color, youth is shown, the girl is impressed.

"Ball at the Moulin de la Gallette" - genre scene. Day. Young people, students, saleswomen, etc. At the tables under the acacia trees there is a platform for dancing. Light shimmers ( sunbeams on their backs).

"Portrait of Jeanne Samary" - flower women. Charming, feminine, graceful, touching, spontaneous actress. Deep eyes, light sunny smile.

"Portrait of Madame Charpentier with Children"- elegant society woman in a black dress with a train and two girls in blue. Tapestries, a table, a dog, parquet flooring - everything speaks of the wealth of the family.

Edgar Degas– did not paint in the open air, the cult of line and drawing. Compositions diagonally (from bottom to top)); S-shaped, spiral figures + window from which lighting + lighting from spotlights. Oil, then bed.

"Ballet Girls", "Dancers"- invades the lives of ballerinas. Strokes connect drawing and painting. Constant rhythm of training.

"Blue Dancers"- no individuality - a single wreath of bodies. In one corner there is still light from the ramps, and in the other there is the shadow of the backstage. Moment of more actresses and ordinary people. Expressive silhouettes, cornflower blue dresses. Fragmentation - the characters do not look at the viewer.

"Apsent" - a man and a woman are sitting in a cafe. Ash range. A man with a pipe looks in one direction, and a drunk woman with a distant look - aching loneliness.

Camille Pissarro - is interested in landscapes, including people and carts in them. Motif of a road with people walking. I loved spring and autumn.

"Entry to the village of Voisin"- a dim, soft landscape, trees along the road - frame the entrance, their branches mix, dissolving in the sky. The horse walks slowly and calmly. Houses are not just architectural objects, but dwellings for people (warm nests).

"Opera Passage in Paris"(series) – a gray cloudy day. The roofs are lightly dusted with snow, the pavement is wet, the buildings are drowning in a shroud of snow, passers-by with umbrellas turn into shadows. The color of the humid air is enveloping. Lilac-blue, olive tones. Small strokes.

Alfred Sisley– sought to notice the beauty of nature, the epic tranquility inherent in the rural landscape.

"Frost in Louveciennes" - morning, fresh state, objects bathe in light (merger). No shadows (subtle nuances), yellow-orange colors. A calm corner, not a busy city. A feeling of purity, fragility, love for this place

Impressionism in Russia. develops at a later time and at an accelerated pace than in France

V.A. Serov – indifferent to academic drawing, wants to show the beauty of nature in color.

"Girl with Peaches"" - portrait of Verochka Mamontova. Everything is natural and relaxed, every detail is connected to one another. The beauty of a girl's face, poetry lifestyle, light-saturated colorful painting. The beauty and freshness of the sketch, two trends, two forces organically united, forming a single form of pictorial vision. Everything seems so simple and natural, but there is so much depth and integrity in this simplicity!! With utmost expressiveness, V. Serov conveyed the light pouring like a silver stream from the window and filling the room. The girl is sitting at the table and is not busy with anything, as if she really sat down for a moment, mechanically picked up a peach and holds it, looking at you simply and frankly. But this peace is only momentary, and through it the passion for high-spirited movement peeks through.

"Children"- shows the spiritual world of children (sons). The older one looks at the sunset, and the younger one faces the viewer. Different outlook on life.

"Mika Morozov"- sits in a chair, but rolls towards the viewer. Children's excitement is conveyed.

"Chorus Girl"- sketchiness. He paints with rich strokes of the brush, wide strokes in the foliage, strokes that are sometimes vertical, sometimes horizontal and of different textures ⇒ dynamism, air and light. A combination of nature and a girl, freshness, spontaneity.

"Paris. Boulevard des Capucines" - motley kaleidoscope of colors. Artificial lighting - entertainment, decorative theatricality.

I.E.Grabar – volitional, emotional beginning.

« February azure"- I saw a birch tree from ground level and was shocked. The chimes of the rainbow are united by the azure sky. The birch is monumental (in the entire canvas).

« March snow» - a girl carries buckets on a yoke, the shadow of a tree on the melted snow.

Impressionism opened up a new art - it is important how the artist sees, new forms and methods of presentation. They have a moment, we have a stretch of time; We have less dynamics, more romanticism.

Mane Breakfast on the grass Mane Olympia

Manet "Bar Folies Bergere" Manet Flutist"

Monet "Impression. Rising Sun Monet "Luncheon on the Grass" - "Boulevard des Capucines in Paris"

Monet "Rocks at Belle-Ile"» Monet "Gare Saint-Lazare"

Monet "Boulevard des Capucines in Paris"Renoir"Swing"

Renoir “Ball at the Moulin de la Gallette” Renoir “Portrait of Jeanne Samary”

Renoir "Portrait of Madame Charpentier with Children"

Degas "Blue Dancers" Degas "Apsent"

Pissarro –"Opera Passage in Paris"(series) Pissarro "Entry to the village of Voisin»

Sisley “Frost in Louveciennes” Serov “Girl with Peaches”

Serov "Children" Serov "Mika Morozov"

Korovin “Chorus Girl” Korovin “Paris. Boulevard des Capucines"

Grabar “February Azure” Grabar “March Snow”

Impressionism constituted an entire era in French art of the second half of the 19th century V. The hero of the impressionist paintings was light, and the task of the artists was to open people's eyes to the beauty of the world around them. Light and color could best be conveyed with quick, small, voluminous strokes. The impressionistic vision was prepared by the entire evolution of artistic consciousness, when movement began to be understood not only as movement in space, but as the general variability of the surrounding reality.

Impressionism - (French impressionnisme, from impression - impression), a movement in the art of the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries. It developed in French painting in the late 1860s - early 70s. The name “impressionism” arose after the exhibition of 1874, at which C. Monet’s painting “Impression. Rising Sun" 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, C. Pissarro, A. Sisley, B. Morisot, etc.), who united for struggle for the renewal of art and overcoming 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 presented genre works in which he rethought the compositional and painting techniques of the masters of the 16th-18th centuries. in relation to modern life, as well as scenes Civil War 1861-65 in the USA, the execution of the Parisian communards, giving them an acute political focus.

The impressionists depicted the world V perpetual motion, 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 day, lighting, weather conditions, etc. (cycles “Boulevard Montmartre” by C. Pissarro, 1897; “Rouen Cathedral”, 1893- 95, and "Parliament of London", 1903-04, C. Monet). Artists found ways to reflect the movement of clouds in paintings (A. Sisley. “Loing in Saint-Mamme”, 1882), the play of glare sunlight(O. Renoir. “Swing”, 1876), gusts of wind (C. Monet. “Terrace at Sainte-Adresse”, 1866), streams of rain (G. Caillebotte. “Hierarch. The Effect of Rain”, 1875), falling snow ( C. Pissarro. “Opera passage. The effect of snow”, 1898), rapid running of horses (E. Manet. “Horses in Longchamp”, 1865).

Now that heated debates about the meaning and role of impressionism are a thing of the past, hardly anyone would dare to dispute that the impressionist movement was a further step in the development of European realistic painting. “Impressionism is, first of all, the art of observing reality that has reached unprecedented sophistication.”

Striving for maximum spontaneity and accuracy in conveying the world around them, they began to write primarily in outdoors and raised the importance of sketches from life, which almost replaced traditional type paintings carefully and slowly created in the studio.

The Impressionists showed the beauty of the real world, in which every moment is unique. Consistently clarifying their palette, the Impressionists freed painting from earthy and brown varnishes and paints. Conventional, “museum” blackness in their canvases gives way to an infinitely diverse play of reflexes and colored shadows. They have expanded the possibilities immeasurably visual arts, revealing not only the world of sun, light and air, but also the beauty of London fogs, the restless atmosphere of big city life, the scattering of its night lights and the rhythm of incessant movement.

Due to the very method of working in the open air, the landscape, including the city landscape they discovered, occupied a very important place in the art of the Impressionists.

However, one should not assume that the painting of the Impressionists was characterized only by a “landscape” perception of reality, for which critics often reproached them. The thematic and plot range of their work was quite wide. Interest in man, and in particular in modern life in France, in a broad sense, was inherent in a number of representatives of this art direction. His life-affirming, fundamentally democratic pathos clearly opposed the bourgeois world order. In this one cannot help but see the continuity of impressionism in relation to the main line of development of French realistic art of the 19th century.

By depicting landscapes and forms using dots of color, the Impressionists questioned the solidity and materiality of the things around them. But the artist cannot be content with one impression; he needs a drawing that organizes complete picture. Since the mid-1880s, a new generation of impressionist artists associated with this art direction has been conducting more and more experiments in their painting, as a result of which the number of directions (varieties) of impressionism is growing, art groups and venues for exhibitions of their work.

Artists of the new movement did not mix various paints on a palette, but wrote in pure colors. By placing a stroke of one paint next to another, they often left the surface of the paintings rough. It was noticed that many colors become brighter when next to each other. This technique is called the contrast effect of complementary colors.

Impressionist artists were sensitive to the slightest changes in the weather, as they worked on location and wanted to create an image of a landscape where the motif, colors, lighting would merge into a single poetic image of a city view or rural areas. The Impressionists placed great importance on color and light at the expense of pattern and volume. Disappeared clear contours objects, contrasts and chiaroscuro were forgotten. They sought to make the picture like an open window through which the real world is visible. This a new style influenced many artists of that time.

It should be noted that, like any movement in art, impressionism has its advantages and disadvantages.

Disadvantages 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 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, what is depicted in the picture is not so important, but how it is depicted is important.

Their paintings presented only the positive aspects of life, did not disturb social problems, and avoided such problems as hunger, disease, and death. This later led to a split among the Impressionists themselves.

Advantages of impressionism:

The advantages of impressionism as a movement include 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. Scenes with the hard work of peasants, tragic pages modernity, the shameful aspects of wars, poverty, 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 times 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.

impressionism manet painting

Everything has its origins somewhere in the past, including paintings that have changed with the times, and current trends are not clear to everyone. But everything new is well-forgotten old, and to understand modern painting, you don’t need to know the history of art from ancient times, you just need to remember the painting of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The middle of the 19th century was a time of change not only in history, but also in art. Everything that came before: classicism, romanticism, and especially academicism - movements limited to certain boundaries. In France in the 50s and 60s, trends in painting were set by the official Salon, but typical “Salon” art did not suit everyone, which explained the new trends that emerged. There was a revolutionary explosion in the painting of that time, which broke with centuries-old traditions and foundations. And one of the epicenters was Paris, where in the spring of 1874 young painters, among whom were Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Renoir and Cézanne, organized their own exhibition. The works presented there were completely different from those in the salon. The artists used a different method - reflexes, shadows and light were conveyed with pure paints, individual strokes, the shape of each object seemed to dissolve in an air-light environment. No other direction in painting knew such methods. These effects helped me express my impressions of ever-changing things, nature, and people as much as possible. One journalist called the group “impressionists,” thereby wanting to show his disdain for young artists. But they accepted this term, and it eventually took root and came into active use, losing its negative meaning. This is how impressionism appeared, unlike all other trends in painting of the 19th century.

At first, the reaction to the innovation was more than hostile. Too bold and new painting no one wanted to buy, and they were afraid, because all the critics did not take the impressionists seriously, they laughed at them. Many said that the Impressionist artists wanted to achieve quick fame, they were dissatisfied with the sharp break with conservatism and academicism, as well as the unfinished and “sloppy” appearance of the work. But even hunger and poverty could not force the artists to abandon their beliefs, and they persisted until their paintings were finally recognized. But it took too long to wait for recognition; some impressionist artists were no longer alive.

As a result, the trend that originated in Paris in the 60s had great value for the development of world art of the 19th and 20th centuries. After all, future directions in painting were based precisely on impressionism. Each subsequent style appeared in search of a new one. Post-impressionism was given birth to by the same impressionists who decided that their method was limited: deep and polysemantic symbolism was a response to painting that had “lost its meaning,” and modernism, even by its name, calls for something new. Of course, many changes have occurred in art since 1874, but all modern trends in painting, one way or another, they start from a fleeting Parisian impression.

fr. impression - impression) - a direction in art of the last third of the 19th century - the beginning. 20th century, whose representatives began to paint landscapes and genre scenes directly from life, trying to convey the glare of the sun, the blow of wind, the rustle of grass, and the movement of the city crowd with very pure and intense colors. The impressionists sought to capture the real world in its mobility and variability in the most natural and unbiased way, and to convey their fleeting impressions.

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IMPRESSIONISM

French impressionnisme, from impression - impression), a direction in the art of con. 1860 – early 1880s Most clearly manifested in painting. Leading representatives: C. Monet, O. Renoir, C. Pissarro, A. Guillaumin, B. Morisot, M. Cassatt, A. Sisley, G. Caillebotte and J. F. Bazille. E. Manet and E. Degas exhibited their paintings with them, 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 among 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 and fluidity, and to impartially express their immediate impressions. Impressionism was based on the latest discoveries in optics and color theory (the spectral decomposition of a solar ray into seven colors of the rainbow); in this he is in tune with the spirit scientific analysis, characteristic of con. 19th century However, the impressionists themselves did not try to determine theoretical basis of his art, insisting on the spontaneity and intuitiveness of the artist’s creativity. Artistic principles the impressionists were not united. Monet painted landscapes only in direct contact with nature, in the open air (en plein air), and even built a workshop in a boat. Degas worked in the workshop from memories or using photographs. Unlike representatives of later radical movements, artists did not go beyond the Renaissance illusory-spatial system based on the use of direct perspective. They firmly adhered to the method of working from life, which they had elevated to main principle creativity. Artists sought to “paint what you see” and “the way you see.” The consistent application of this method entailed the transformation of all the foundations of the existing pictorial system: color, composition, spatial structure. Pure paints 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 or on the canvas, but in the viewer’s eye. The Impressionists achieved an unprecedented sonority of color and an unprecedented richness of shades. The brushstroke became an independent means of expression, filling the surface of the painting with a living, shimmering vibration of color particles. The canvas was likened to a mosaic shimmering with precious colors. In previous paintings, black, gray, and brown shades predominated; In the paintings of the Impressionists, the colors shone brightly. The Impressionists did not use chiaroscuro to convey volumes; they abandoned dark shadows, and the shadows in their paintings also became colored. Artists widely used additional tones (red and green, yellow and violet), the contrast of which increased the intensity of the sound of color. In Monet's paintings, colors lightened and dissolved in the radiance of rays of sunlight, local colors acquired many shades.

The impressionists depicted the world around us in perpetual motion, 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 day, lighting, weather conditions, etc. (cycles “Boulevard Montmartre” by C. Pissarro, 1897; “Rouen Cathedral”, 1893– 95, and "Parliament of London", 1903–04, C. Monet). Artists found ways to reflect in their paintings the movement of clouds (A. Sisley. “Loing in Saint-Mamme”, 1882), the play of glare of sunlight (O. Renoir. “Swing”, 1876), gusts of wind (C. Monet. “Terrace in Sainte-Adresse", 1866), streams of rain (G. Caillebotte. "Hierarch. The Effect of Rain", 1875), falling snow (C. Pissarro. "Opera Passage. The Effect of Snow", 1898), rapid running of horses (E. Manet . "Racing at Longchamp", 1865).

The Impressionists developed new principles of composition. Previously, the space of a painting was likened to a stage; now the captured scenes resembled a snapshot, a photographic frame. Invented in the 19th century. photography had a significant influence on the composition of impressionistic paintings, especially in the work of E. Degas, who himself was a passionate photographer and, in his own words, sought to take the ballerinas he depicted by surprise, to see them “as if through a keyhole,” when their poses, body lines natural, expressive and authentic. Creating paintings in the open air, the desire to capture rapidly changing lighting forced artists to speed up their work, painting “alla prima” (in one go), without preliminary sketches. Fragmentation, “randomness” of the composition and dynamic painting style created a feeling of special freshness in the paintings of the Impressionists.

The favorite impressionistic genre was landscape; the portrait also represented a kind of “landscape of a face” (O. Renoir. “Portrait of the Actress J. Samary”, 1877). In addition, the artists significantly expanded the range of painting subjects, turning to topics 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 or detailed narration; human life is dissolved in nature or in the atmosphere of the city. The impressionists painted not events, but moods, shades of feelings. Artists fundamentally rejected historical and literary themes and 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 depicted phenomena. Artists sang the beauty of the world, being able to turn the most everyday motif (room renovation, gray London fog, smoke of steam locomotives, etc.) into an enchanting spectacle (G. Caillebotte. “Parquet Boys”, 1875; C. Monet. “Gare Saint-Lazare” , 1877).

In 1886, the last exhibition of the Impressionists took place (O. Renoir and C. Monet did not participate in it). By this time, significant disagreements had emerged between group members. The possibilities of the impressionist method were exhausted, and each of the artists began to look for his own own way in art.

Impressionism as a whole creative method was a phenomenon predominantly French art, however, the work of the impressionists had an impact on the entire European painting. The desire for renewal artistic language, brightening the colorful palette, exposing painting techniques have now firmly entered the arsenal of artists. In other countries, J. Whistler (England and the USA), M. Lieberman, L. Corinth (Germany), and H. Sorolla (Spain) were close to impressionism. Many Russian artists experienced the influence of impressionism (V. A. Serov, K. A. Korovin, I. E. Grabar, 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 the living 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; the poses capture the moment of movement and development. In music, the works of C. Debussy ("Sails", "Mists", "Reflections in Water", etc.) are close to impressionism.

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