French impressionism: general characteristics, main masters. The best Impressionist paintings with titles and photos The birth of impressionism

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” means a direction in painting (but this is, first of all, a group of methods), although its ideas have also found their way into 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 develop actively 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 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 the 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 the 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 depict all the mobility and variability of the real world most vividly and naturally 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 artists of the most talented painters of the Renaissance: Rubens, Velasquez, El Greco, Goya. From them, the Impressionists took such methods of brighter and more vivid transmission of the world around them or the expressiveness of weather conditions 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 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 "Luncheon 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 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”, “Capuchin Boulevard”, 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 transmission of not fleeting sensations and impressions from the surrounding world, but the knowledge of the true essence of things, which is hidden under their outer shell. Their most famous works are: Paul Gauguin ("A naughty 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 lighting 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).

European art of the late 19th century was enriched by the emergence of modernist art. Later, its influence extended to music and literature. It was called "impressionism" because it was based on the subtlest impressions of the artist, images and moods.

Origins and history of occurrence

Several young artists formed a group in the second half of the 19th century. They had a common goal and coincided interests. The main thing for this company was to work in nature, without the walls of the workshop and various restraining 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 there was an exhibition of this group of artists. 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 impressionism style, the paintings of whose representatives will soon find incredible success, were the 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.

Pissarro, Manet, Degas, Sisley, Cezanne, Monet, Renoir and others became prominent representatives of the style in France.

The philosophy of impressionism in painting

The artists who painted in this style did not set themselves the task of drawing public attention to troubles. In their works, one cannot find plots on the topic of the day, one cannot receive moralizing or notice human contradictions.

Paintings in the style of impressionism are aimed at conveying a momentary mood, developing color schemes of a mysterious nature. In the works there is only a place for a positive beginning, gloom bypassed the Impressionists.

In fact, the Impressionists did not bother to think through the plot and details. The main factor was not what to draw, but how to depict and convey your mood.

Painting technique

There is a colossal difference between the academic style of drawing and the technique of the Impressionists. They simply abandoned many methods, some were changed beyond recognition. Here are the innovations they made:

1. Abandoned contour. It was replaced with strokes - small and contrasting.
2. We stopped using palettes for We selected colors that complement each other and do not require merging to obtain a certain effect. For example, yellow is purple.
3. Stop painting in black.
4. Completely abandoned work in the workshops. They wrote exclusively on nature, so that it would be easier to capture a moment, an image, a feeling.
5. Only paints with good opacity were used.
6. Don't wait for the next layer to dry. Fresh smears were applied immediately.
7. They created cycles of works to follow the changes in light and shadow. For example, "Haystacks" by Claude Monet.

Of course, not all artists performed exactly the features of the impressionism style. Paintings by Edouard Manet, for example, never participated in joint exhibitions, and he himself positioned himself as a separate 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 is dated 1874. After 12 years, their last exposition took place. The first work in this style can be called “Breakfast on the Grass” by E. Manet. This picture 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 which a circle of followers of this stylistic direction gathers.

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

Gradually, Claude Monet comes to the fore in the team of painters, who later becomes 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 refuse to use black in his paintings, arguing that even shadows and night have other tones.

The world in Monet's paintings is vague outlines, voluminous strokes, looking at which you can feel the whole spectrum of the play of the colors of day and night, the seasons, the harmony of the sublunar world. Only a moment that was snatched from the flow of life, in the understanding of Monet, 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: "Station Saint-Lazare", "Rouen Cathedral", the cycle "Charing Cross Bridge" and many others.

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

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

A distinctive feature of the work of O. Renoir is the use of glazing, which is possible only when writing 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 the image of a woman in all her attractive and attractive beauty. Portraits occupy a special place in the creative life of the artist. “Umbrellas”, “Girl with a Fan”, “Breakfast of the Rowers” ​​are just a small part of the 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 on the basis of 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 respects different from the founders, he in the same way creates with the help of strokes an illusory representation of the objective form, which can be viewed and seen only at a distance.

Masterpieces of creativity can be called the painting "Sunday", "Cancan", "Models".

Representatives of Russian impressionism

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

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

In Russia, few artists worked in the style of impressionism, their paintings attract the eye to this day.

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

The paintings conquer with their freshness and consonance of pure colors. The main theme of this artist's work is the image of a person in nature. "Northern Idyll", "In the Boat", "Fyodor Chaliapin" are bright milestones in the activity of K. Korovin.

Impressionism in modern times

Currently, this direction in art has received a new life. In this style, several artists paint their paintings. Modern impressionism exists in Russia (André Cohn), in France (Laurent Parcelier), in America (Diana Leonard).

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

The watercolor works of Laurent Parcelier are known all over the world. His series of works "Strange World" was released in the form of postcards. Gorgeous, vibrant and sensual, they are breathtaking.

As in the 19th century, plein air painting remains for artists at the moment. Thanks to her, impressionism will live forever. artists continue to inspire, impress and inspire.

"Exhibition of the Impressionists", based on the name of the painting by Claude Monet "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 impressionism

French 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

Impressionism is characterized by democracy. By inertia, art in the 19th century was considered a monopoly of aristocrats, the upper strata of the population. It was they who acted as the main customers for murals, monuments, it was they who were the main buyers of paintings and sculptures. Plots with the hard work of the peasants, the tragic pages of our time, the shameful aspects of wars, poverty, social turmoil were condemned, not approved, not bought. Criticism of the blasphemous morality of society in the paintings of Theodore Gericault, Francois Millet found a response only from supporters of artists and a few experts.

The Impressionists in this matter occupied quite compromise, intermediate positions. Biblical, literary, mythological, historical plots inherent in official academicism were discarded. On the other hand, they ardently 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 appeared. Artists often painted people in motion, during fun or relaxation, imagined a view of a certain place in a certain light, nature was also the motive of their work. They took subjects of flirting, dancing, staying in cafes and theaters, boat trips, on beaches and in gardens. 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 finalizing their work in the studio.

Technique

The new trend 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 Rude. The sunbeam splits into its components: violet, blue, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, but since blue is a variety of blue, their number is reduced to six. Two colors placed side by side reinforce each other and, conversely, when mixed, they lose their intensity. In addition, all colors are divided into primary, or primary, and dual, or derivatives, with each dual paint being additional to the first:

• Blue - Orange
• Red Green
• Yellow - Purple

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

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

Also, the artists used opaque paints that do not transmit light well and are unsuitable for mixing because they quickly turn gray, this allowed them to create paintings not with " internal", a " external» light reflecting off the surface.

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 subject depending on the lighting and time of day, the highest embodiment was Monet's cycles of paintings "Haystacks", "Rouen Cathedral" and "London's Parliament".

In general, many masters worked in the style of Impressionism, but the basis of the movement were 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.

Timeline by artist

Impressionists

Exhibitions

• First exhibition(April 15 - May 15)

• Second exhibition(April )

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

• Third exhibition(April )

Address: st. Lepelletier, 6. Members: Guillaumin, Degas, Caillebotte, Cals, Cordeil, Lever, Lamy, Monet, Morisot, Alphonse Moreau, Piette, Pissarro, Renoir, Rouard, Cezanne, Sisley, Tillo, Francois.

• Fourth Exhibition(April 10 - May 11)

Address: Opera Avenue, 28. Members: Bracquemont, Madame Bracquemont, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Cals, Cassatt, Lebourg, Monet, Piette, Pissarro, Rouart, Somm, Tillo, Forain.

• Fifth exhibition(April 1 - April 30)

Address: st. Pyramids, 10. Members: Bracquemont, Mrs. Bracquemont, Vidal, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Cassatt, Lebour, Lever, Morisot, Pissarro, Raffaelli, Rouart, Tillo, Forain.

• Sixth Exhibition(April 2 - May 1)

Address: Boulevard des Capucines, 35 (studio of the photographer Nadar). Members: Vidal, Vignon, Guillaume, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Cassatt, Morisot, Pissarro, Raffaelli, Rouar, Tillo, Forain.

• Seventh Exhibition(March )

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

• Eighth Exhibition(May 15 - June 15)

Address: st. Laffitt, 1. Members: Madam Braquemont, Vignon, Guillaumin, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Cassette, Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Lucien Pissarro, Redon, Rouart, Seurat, Signac, Tillo, Forain, Schuffenecker.

Impressionism in literature

In literature, impressionism did not develop as a separate trend, 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 a 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.

In naturalism, the main principle was truthfulness, fidelity to nature, but it is subject to impression, and therefore the appearance of reality depends on each individual person and her temperament. This is most fully expressed in the novels of Emile Zola, his detailed descriptions of smells, sounds and visual perceptions.

Symbolism, on the contrary, demanded a rejection of the material world and a return to the ideal, but the transition is possible only through fleeting impressions, revealing a secret essence in visible things. A striking example of poetic impressionism - a collection

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 paintings of the Impressionists (especially in landscapes and still lifes, a number of multi-figured 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 everyday 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-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.

Literature: L. Venturi, From Manet to Lautrec, trans. from Italian., M., 1958; Rewald J., History of Impressionism, (translated from English, L.-M., 1959); Impressionism. Letters from artists, (translated from French), L., 1969; A. D. Chegodaev, Impressionists, M., 1971; O. Reutersverd, Impressionists before the public and criticism, M., 1974; Impressionists, their contemporaries, their associates, M., 1976; L. G. Andreev, Impressionism, M., 1980; Bazin G., L "époque impressionniste, (2nd d.), P., 1953; Leymarie J., L" impressionnisme, v. 1-2, Gen., 1955; Francastel P., Impressionnisme, P., 1974; Sérullaz M., Encyclopédie de l "impressionnisme, P., 1977; Monneret S., L"impressionnisme et son epoque, v. 1-3, P., 1978-80.

(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, O. 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. Manet 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 prospects. 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 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 step), 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. Artists sang the beauty of the world, being able to turn the most everyday motif (renovation of a room, gray London fog, smoke of steam locomotives, 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:

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