Impressionism in French Painting. History of Impressionism in painting and its major masters

Impressionism first appeared in France towards the end of the 19th century. Before the advent of this trend, still lifes, portraits and even landscapes were mostly painted by artists in studios. Impressionist paintings, on the other hand, were often created in the open air, and real fleeting scenes from modern life became their subjects. And although impressionism was initially criticized, it soon gathered a large following and laid the foundation for similar movements in music and literature.

Famous French Impressionist painters

It is not surprising that impressionism in painting has become one of the most famous areas of fine art: artists who worked in this style left behind canvases of amazing beauty, light as a breath of fresh air, full of light and colors. Many of these beautiful works were written by the following masters of impressionism, which every self-respecting connoisseur of world painting knows.

Edouard Manet

Despite the fact that the entire work of Edouard Manet cannot be placed only within the framework of impressionism, the painter largely influenced the emergence of this trend, and other French artists working in this style considered him the founder of impressionism and their ideological inspirer. Other well-known French impressionists were good friends of the master: Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, as well as an impressionist artist with a similar surname, which baffles beginners in the world of painting, Claude Monet.

After meeting these artists, impressionistic changes took place in Manet's work: he began to prefer working outdoors, light, bright colors, an abundance of light and fractional composition began to predominate in the paintings. Although he still does not refuse dark colors, and he prefers painting in the domestic genre to landscapes - this can be traced in the painter's works "Bar at the Folies Bergère", "Music at the Tuileries", "Breakfast on the Grass", "Papa's Lathuille", "Argenteuil" and others.

Claude Monet

The name of this French artist, perhaps, at least once in his life everyone heard. Claude Monet was one of the founders of Impressionism, and it was his painting Impression: Rising Sun that gave the movement its name.

In the 60s of the 19th century, the impressionist artist was one of the first to take a great interest in painting in the open air, and much later he created a new experimental approach to work. It consisted in observing and depicting the same object at different times of the day: this is how a whole series of canvases was created overlooking the facade of the Rouen Cathedral, opposite which the artist even settled in order not to lose sight of the building.

As you study Impressionism in painting, don't miss Monet's Field of Poppies at Argenteuil, Walk to the Cliff at Pourville, Women in the Garden, Lady with Umbrella, Boulevard des Capucines, and the Water lilies."

Pierre Auguste Renoir

This impressionist artist had a unique vision of beauty, which made Renoir one of the most famous representatives of this movement. First of all, he is famous for his paintings of the noisy Parisian life and leisure of the late 19th century. Renoir perfectly knew how to work with color and chiaroscuro, in particular, his exceptional ability to paint nudes, with a unique transmission of tones and textures, is noted.

Already from the 80s, the Impressionist artist began to lean more towards the classical style of painting and became interested in Renaissance painting, which forced him to include sharper lines and a clear composition in his mature works. It was during this period that Pierre-Auguste Renoir created some of the most imperishable works of his era.

Pay special attention to such paintings by Renoir as "Breakfast of the Rowers", "Ball at the Moulin de la Galette", "Dance in the Village", "Umbrellas", "Dance at Bougival", "Girls at the Piano".

Edgar Degas

In the history of art, Edgar Degas remained as an impressionist artist, although he himself denied this label, preferring to call himself rather an independent artist. Indeed, he had a certain interest in realism, which distinguished the artist from other impressionists, but at the same time he used many impressionist techniques in his work, in particular, he “played” with light in the same way and was fond of depicting scenes from urban life.

Degas was always attracted by the human figure, he often depicted singers, dancers, laundresses, trying to depict the human body in various positions, for example, on the canvases “Dance Class”, “Rehearsal”, “Concert at the Ambassador Cafe”, “Opera Orchestra”, “ Dancers in blue.

Camille Pissarro

Pissarro was the only artist who participated in all eight Impressionist exhibitions from 1874 to 1886. While Impressionist paintings are known for their urban and countryside scenes, Pissarro's paintings show the viewer the daily life of French peasants, depicting rural nature in various conditions and under different lighting conditions.

Getting acquainted with the paintings that this impressionist artist painted, first of all it is worth seeing the works “Boulevard Montmartre at night”, “Harvest in Eragny”, “Reapers rest”, “Garden in Pontoise” and “Entrance to the village of Voisin”.

Impressionism is a direction in painting that originated in France in the 19th-20th centuries, which is an artistic attempt to capture any moment of life in all its variability and mobility. Impressionist paintings are like a qualitatively washed-out photograph, reviving in fantasy the continuation of the story seen. In this article, we take a look at 10 of the world's most famous impressionists. Fortunately, there are more than ten, twenty or even a hundred talented artists, so let's focus on those names that you need to know for sure.

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

1. Alfred Sisley

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

2. Van Gogh

Known to the whole world for the sad story about his ear (by the way, he did not cut off the whole ear, but only the lobe), Wang Gon became popular only after his death. And in his life he was able to sell a single painting, 4 months before his death. It is said that he was both an entrepreneur and a priest, but often ended up in psychiatric hospitals due to depression, so all the rebelliousness of his existence resulted in legendary works.

3. Camille Pissarro

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

4. Claude Monet

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

5. Konstantin Korovin

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

6. Paul Gauguin

Until the age of 26, Paul Gauguin did not even think about painting. He was an entrepreneur and had a large family. However, when I first saw the paintings of Camille Pissarro, I decided that I would certainly begin to paint. Over time, the artist's style has changed, but the most famous impressionistic paintings are "Garden in the Snow", "At the Cliff", "On the Beach in Dieppe", "Nude", "Palms in Martinique" and others.

7. Paul Cezanne

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

8. Pierre Auguste Renoir

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

9. Edgar Degas

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

10. Edouard Manet

Do not confuse Manet with Monet - these are two different people who worked at the same time and in the same artistic direction. Manet was always attracted by everyday scenes, unusual appearances and types, as if by chance "caught" moments, subsequently captured for centuries. Among the famous paintings of Manet: "Olympia", "Breakfast on the Grass", "Bar at the Folies Bergère", "Flutist", "Nana" and others.

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

Alexandra Skripkina,

French-impression): an artistic movement that arose in France in the 60s and 70s of the 19th century. and received the most vivid embodiment in easel fine art. The Impressionists developed new painting techniques - colored shadows, color mixing, brightened coloring, as well as the decomposition of complex tones into pure tones (their imposition on the canvas in separate strokes gave rise to their optical mixing in the eyes of the viewer). They sought to convey the beauty of the fleeting states of nature, the variability and mobility of the surrounding life. These techniques helped convey the feeling of sparkling sunlight, the vibrations of light and air, created the impression of a festive being, the harmony of the world. Impressionist techniques were also used in other art forms. In music, for example, they contributed to the transmission of the most subtle spiritual movements and fleeting moods.

Great Definition

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Impressionism

from the French impression - impression) A trend in art that arose in France in the last third of the 19th century. The main representatives of I.: Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, as well as Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and some other artists adjoining them. The development of a new style of I. took place in the 60-70s, and for the first time as a new direction that opposed itself to the academic Salon, the Impressionists declared themselves at their first exhibition in 1874. In particular, C. Monet's painting “Impression . Soleil levant" (1872). Official art criticism reacted negatively to the new direction and mockingly "christened" its representatives "Impressionists", recalling Monet's painting, which particularly irritated them. However, the name reflected the essence of the direction, and its representatives adopted it as the official designation of their method. Impressionism did not last long as an integral trend - from 1874 to 1886, when 8 joint exhibitions were organized by the Impressionists. Official recognition by connoisseurs of art and art criticism came much later - only in the mid-90s. I. had, which became obvious already in the next century, a huge impact on the entire subsequent development of fine arts (and artistic culture as a whole). In fact, a fundamentally new stage of artistic culture began with him, which led to the middle. XX century to POST-culture (see: POST-), i.e. to the transition of Culture into some fundamentally different quality. O. Spengler, who extended the concept of I. to culture, considered it one of the typical signs of the "decline of Europe", that is, the destruction of the integrity of the worldview, the destruction of the traditionally established European culture. On the contrary, the avant-gardists (see: Vanguard) of the early 20th century. saw in I. their forerunner, who opened up new horizons for art, freed it from non-artistic tasks, from the dogmas of positivism, academicism, realism, etc., with which one cannot but agree. The Impressionists themselves, as pure painters, did not think about such a global significance of their experiment. They did not even strive for a special revolution in art. They simply saw the world around them in a slightly different way than the official representatives of the Salon saw it, and tried to consolidate this vision with purely pictorial means. At the same time, they relied on the artistic discoveries of their predecessors - primarily French painters of the 19th century. Delacroix, Corot, Courbet, "Barbizon". On K. Monet, who visited London in 1871, was strongly impressed by the work of W. Turner. In addition, the Impressionists themselves name among their predecessors the French classicists Poussin, Lorrain, Chardin, and Japanese color engraving of the 18th century, and art historians see features of proximity to the Impressionists in the English artists T. Gainsborough and J. Constable, not to mention U .Turner. The Impressionists absolutized a number of painting techniques of these very different artists and created an integral style system on this basis. In contrast to the "academicians", the Impressionists abandoned the thematic predetermined (philosophical, moral, religious, socio-political, etc.) of art, from thoughtful, premeditated and clearly traced plot compositions, that is, they began to fight against the dominance of "literary" in painting, focusing on specifically pictorial means - on color and light; they left the workshops for the open air, where they tried to start and finish work on a specific work in one session; they abandoned dark colors and complex tones (earthy, "asphalt" colors) characteristic of the art of the New Age, switching to pure bright colors (their palette was limited to 7-8 colors), often laid on canvas in separate strokes, consciously relying on their optical mixing is already in the psyche of the viewer, which achieved the effect of special freshness and immediacy; following Delacroix, they mastered and absolutized the color shadow, the play of color reflections on various surfaces; dematerialized the object of the visible world, dissolving it in the light-air environment, which was the main subject of their attention as pure painters; they actually abandoned the genre approach in the visual arts, focusing all their attention on the pictorial transmission of their subjective impression of a randomly seen fragment of reality - more often a landscape (as in Monet, Sisley, Pissarro), less often plot scenes (as in Renoir, Degas). At the same time, they often tried to convey the impression with almost illusionistic accuracy of matching the color-light-air atmosphere of the depicted fragment and the moment of visible reality. The randomness of the angle of view on a fragment of nature illuminated by artistic vision, attention to the pictorial environment, and not to the subject, often led them to bold compositional decisions, sharp unexpected angles of view, cuts that activate the perception of the viewer, etc. effects, many of which subsequently were used by representatives of various avant-garde movements. I. became one of the directions of "pure art" in the late 19th century, whose representatives considered the artistic and aesthetic principle to be the main thing in art. The Impressionists felt the inexpressible beauty of the light-color-air environment of the material world and tried to capture it on their canvases with almost documentary accuracy (for this they are sometimes accused of naturalism, which by and large is hardly justified). In painting, they are a kind of optimistic pantheists, the last singers of the carefree joy of earthly existence, sun-worshippers. As the neo-impressionist P. Signac wrote with admiration, they “sunlight fills the whole picture; the air in it sways, the light envelops, caresses, disperses forms, penetrates everywhere, even into the region of shadow. The stylistic features of I. in painting, especially the desire for a refined artistic depiction of fleeting impressions, the fundamental sketchiness, the freshness of direct perception, etc., turned out to be close to representatives of other types of art of that time, which led to the spread of this concept to literature, poetry, music. However, in these types of art there was no special direction of I., although many of its features are found in the works of a number of writers and composers of the last third of the 19th - early 19th century. 20th century Such elements of impressionistic aesthetics as vagueness of form, fixation of attention on bright but random fleeting details, innuendo, vague hints, etc., are inherent in the work of G. de Maupassant, A.P. Chekhov, early T. Mann, R.- M. Rilke, but especially - to the brothers J. and E. Goncourt, representatives of the so-called "psychological I", partially - to K. Hamsun. M. Proust and the writers of the “stream of consciousness” relied on impressionistic techniques, significantly developing them. In music, the French composers C. Debussy, M. Ravel, P. Duc, and some others, who used the style and aesthetics of I. in their work, are considered impressionists. Their music is filled with direct experiences of the beauty and lyricism of the landscape, almost imitation of the play of sea waves or the rustle of leaves, the bucolic charm of ancient mythological plots, the joy of momentary life, the exultation of earthly existence, the enjoyment of the endless play of sound matter. Like painters, they blur many traditional musical genres, filling them with a different content, increasing attention to the purely aesthetic effects of the musical language, significantly enriching the palette of expressive and visual means of music. “This applies first of all,” writes the musicologist I. V. Nestiev, - to the sphere of harmony with its technique of parallelisms and whimsical stringing of unresolved colorful harmonies-spots. The Impressionists significantly expanded the modern tonal system, paving the way for many harmonic innovations of the 20th century. (although they noticeably weakened the clarity of functional relationships). The complication and swelling of chord complexes (nonchords, undecimaccords, alternative fourth harmonies) are combined with simplification, archaization of modal thinking (natural modes, pentatonic, whole-tone complexes). The orchestration of impressionist composers is dominated by pure colors, whimsical highlights; woodwind solos, harp passages, complex string divisi, and con sordino effects are often used. Typical and purely decorative, evenly flowing ostinato backgrounds. Rhythm is sometimes unsteady and elusive. The melody is characterized not by rounded constructions, but by short expressive phrases-symbols, stratifications of motifs. At the same time, in the music of the Impressionists, the significance of each sound, timbre, and chord was extraordinarily enhanced, and unlimited possibilities for expanding the mode were revealed. A special freshness to the music of the Impressionists was given by the frequent appeal to song and dance genres, the subtle implementation of modal, rhythmic elements borrowed from the folklore of the peoples of the East, Spain, in the early forms of Negro jazz ”(Musical Encyclopedia. Vol. 2, M., 1974. St. 507 ). Placing the artist's attention on the figurative and expressive means of art and focusing on the hedonistic and aesthetic function of art, I. opened up new perspectives and opportunities for artistic culture, which she took full advantage of (and even sometimes excessively) in the 20th century. Lit .: Venturi L. From Manet to Lautrec. M., 1938; Rewald J. History of Impressionism. L.-M., 1959; Impressionism. Artists' letters. L., 1969; Serullaz M. Encyclopedie de limpressionnisme. P., 1977; Montieret S. Limpressionnisme et son epoque. T. 1-3. P., 1978-1980; Kroher E. Impressionismus in der Musik. Leipzig. 1957. L.B.

"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 the 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 "Parliament of London".

In general, many masters worked in the Impressionist style, 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 is a trend in art that arose in the second half of the 19th century. His main goal was to convey fleeting, changeable impressions.

The emergence of impressionism is associated with science: with the latest discoveries of optics and color theory.

This direction affected almost all types of art, but it manifested itself most clearly in painting, where the transfer of color and light was the basis of the work of impressionist artists.

Term meaning

Impressionism(fr. Impressionnisme) from impression - impression). This style of painting appeared in France in the late 1860s. He was represented by Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley, Jean Frederic Bazille. But the term itself appeared in 1874, when Monet's painting “Impression. Rising Sun (1872). In the title of the painting, Monet meant that he conveys only his fleeting impression of the landscape.

C. Monet “Impression. Sunrise" (1872). Marmottan Monet Museum, Paris
Later, the term "impressionism" in painting began to be understood more broadly: a careful study of nature in terms of color and lighting. The goal of the Impressionists was to depict instantaneous, as it were, “random” situations and movements. To do this, they used various techniques: complex angles, asymmetry, fragmentation of compositions. The picture of the Impressionist artists becomes, as it were, a frozen moment of a constantly changing world.

The artistic method of the Impressionists

The most popular genres of the Impressionists are landscapes and scenes from urban life. They were always written "in the open air", i.e. directly from nature, in nature, without sketches and preliminary sketches. The Impressionists noticed and were able to convey colors and shades on canvas, usually invisible to the naked eye and an inattentive viewer. For example, rendering blue in shadows or pink at sunset. They decomposed complex tones into their constituent pure colors of the spectrum. From this, their painting turned out to be light and quivering. Impressionist painters applied paint in separate strokes, in a free and even careless manner, so their paintings are best viewed from a distance - it is with this look that the effect of a lively flickering of colors is created.
The Impressionists abandoned the contour, replacing it with small separate and contrasting strokes.
K. Pissarro, A. Sisley and C. Monet preferred landscapes and urban scenes. O. Renoir liked to depict people in the bosom of nature or in the interior. French Impressionism did not raise philosophical and social issues. They did not turn to biblical, literary, mythological, historical subjects that were inherent in official academism. Instead, on the picturesque canvases appeared the image of everyday life and modernity; the image of people in motion, while relaxing or having fun. Their main subjects are flirting, dancing, people in cafes and theaters, boat trips, beaches and gardens.
The Impressionists tried to catch a fleeting impression, the smallest changes in each subject, depending on the lighting and time of day. In this regard, Monet's cycles of paintings "Haystacks", "Rouen Cathedral" and "London's Parliament" can be considered the highest achievement.

C. Monet "Cathedral in Rouen in the sun" (1894). Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France
"Rouen Cathedral" is a series of 30 paintings by Claude Monet, which represent views of the cathedral depending on the time of day, year and lighting. This cycle was written by the artist in the 1890s. The cathedral allowed him to show the relationship between the constant, solid structure of the building and the changing, easily playful light that changes our perception. Monet concentrates on individual fragments of the Gothic cathedral and chooses the portal, the tower of St. Martin and the tower of Albane. He is only interested in the play of light on stone.

C. Monet "Rouen Cathedral, West Portal, Foggy Weather" (1892). Musee d'Orsay, Paris

C. Monet “Rouen Cathedral, portal and tower, morning effect; white harmony" (1892-1893). Musee d'Orsay, Paris

C. Monet "Rouen Cathedral, portal and tower in the sun, harmony of blue and gold" (1892-1893). Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Following France, impressionist artists appeared in England and the USA (James Whistler), in Germany (Max Lieberman, Lovis Corinth), in Spain (Joaquin Sorolla), in Russia (Konstantin Korovin, Valentin Serov, Igor Grabar).

About the work of some impressionist artists

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Claude Monet, photograph 1899
French painter, one of the founders of impressionism. Born in Paris. He was fond of drawing since childhood, at the age of 15 he proved to be a talented cartoonist. Eugene Boudin, a French artist, a forerunner of impressionism, introduced him to landscape painting. Monet later entered the university at the Faculty of Arts, but became disillusioned and left him, enrolling in the painting studio of Charles Gleyre. In the studio, he met the artists Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Frédéric Bazille. They were practically peers, held similar views on art, and soon formed the backbone of the Impressionist group.
Monet's fame was brought by the portrait of Camille Donsier, written in 1866 ("Camille, or a portrait of a lady in a green dress"). Camilla in 1870 became the artist's wife.

C. Monet "Camilla" ("The Lady in Green") (1866). Kunsthalle, Bremen

C. Monet "Walk: Camille Monet with her son Jean (Woman with an umbrella)" (1875). National Gallery of Art, Washington
In 1912, doctors diagnosed K. Monet with a double cataract, he had to undergo two operations. Having lost the lens in his left eye, Monet regained his sight, but began to see ultraviolet light as blue or purple, which is why his paintings acquired new colors. For example, when painting the famous "Water Lilies", Monet saw lilies bluish in the ultraviolet range, for other people they were just white.

C. Monet "Water Lilies"
The artist died on December 5, 1926 in Giverny and was buried in the local church cemetery.

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

C. Pissarro "Self-portrait" (1873)

French painter, one of the first and most consistent representatives of impressionism.
Born on the island of St. Thomas (West Indies), in a bourgeois family of a Sephardic Jew and a native of the Dominican Republic. Until the age of 12 he lived in the West Indies, at the age of 25 he moved to Paris with his whole family. Here he studied at the School of Fine Arts and at the Academy of Suisse. His teachers were Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet and Charles-Francois Daubigny. He began with rural landscapes and views of Paris. Pissarro had a strong influence on the Impressionists, independently developing many of the principles that formed the basis of their style of painting. He was friends with the artists Degas, Cezanne and Gauguin. Pizarro was the only participant in all 8 Impressionist exhibitions.
He died in 1903 in Paris. He was buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery.
Already in his early works, the artist paid special attention to the depiction of illuminated objects in the air. Light and air have since become the leading theme in the work of Pissarro.

C. Pissarro “Boulevard Montmartre. Afternoon, sunny" (1897)
in 1890, Pizarro became interested in the technique of pointillism (separate application of strokes). But after a while he returned to his usual manner.
In the last years of his life, Camille Pissarro's eyesight deteriorated noticeably. But he continued to work and created a series of views of Paris, filled with artistic emotions.

K. Pissarro "Street in Rouen"
The unusual angle of some of his paintings is explained by the fact that the artist painted them from hotel rooms. This series was one of the highest achievements of Impressionism in the transfer of light and atmospheric effects.
Pissarro also painted in watercolor and created a series of etchings and lithographs.
Here are some of his interesting statements about the art of impressionism: "The Impressionists are on the right track, their art is healthy, it is based on sensations and it is honest."
“Happy is he who can see beauty in ordinary things, where others see nothing!”

C. Pissarro "The First Frost" (1873)

Russian impressionism

Russian impressionism developed from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. It was influenced by the work of the French Impressionists. But Russian impressionism has a pronounced national specificity and in many respects does not coincide with the textbook ideas about classical French impressionism. Objectivity and materiality predominate in the painting of the Russian Impressionists. It has a greater load of meaning and less dynamization. Russian impressionism is closer than French impressionism to realism. The French Impressionists emphasized the impression of what they saw, while the Russians also added a reflection of the artist's inner state. The work was to be completed in one session.
Some incompleteness of Russian Impressionism creates the "awe of life" that was characteristic of them.
Impressionism includes the work of Russian artists: A. Arkhipov, I. Grabar, K. Korovin, F. Malyavin, N. Meshcherin, A. Murashko, V. Serov, A. Rylov and others.

V. Serov "Girl with peaches" (1887)

This picture is considered the standard of Russian impressionism in the portrait.

Valentin Serov "Girl with Peaches" (1887). Canvas, oil. 91×85 cm State Tretyakov Gallery
The picture was painted in the estate of Savva Ivanovich Mamontov in Abramtsevo, which he acquired from the daughter of the writer Sergei Aksakov in 1870. The portrait depicts 12-year-old Vera Mamontova. The girl is drawn sitting at the table; she is wearing a pink blouse with a dark blue bow; on the table is a knife, peaches and leaves.
“All I wanted was freshness, that special freshness that you always feel in nature and you don’t see in pictures. I wrote for more than a month and exhausted her, poor thing, to death, I really wanted to preserve the freshness of painting with complete completeness - that's how the old masters ”(V. Serov).

Impressionism in other art forms

In literature

In literature, impressionism as a separate trend did not take shape, but its features were reflected in naturalism and symbolism .

Edmond and Jules Goncourt. Photo
Principles naturalism can be traced in the novels of the Goncourt brothers and George Eliot. But Emile Zola was the first to use the term "naturalism" to refer to his own work. The writers Guy de Maupassant, Alphonse Daudet, Huysmans and Paul Alexis were grouped around Zola. After the publication of the collection Medan Evenings (1880) with frank stories about the disasters of the Franco-Prussian war (including Maupassant's story Dumpling), the name of the Medan group was assigned to them.

Emile Zola
The naturalistic principle in literature has often been criticized for its lack of artistry. For example, I. S. Turgenev wrote about one of Zola's novels that "there is a lot of digging in chamber pots." Gustave Flaubert was also critical of naturalism.
Zola maintained friendly relations with many impressionist painters.
Symbolists used symbols, understatement, hints, mystery, mystery. The main mood captured by the symbolists was pessimism, reaching to despair. Everything “natural” seemed to be only “appearance”, which had no independent artistic value.
Thus, impressionism in literature was expressed by the author's private impression, the rejection of an objective picture of reality, the image of every moment. In fact, this led to the absence of plot and history, the replacement of thought with perception, and reason with instinct.

G. Courbet "Portrait of P. Verlaine" (circa 1866)
A striking example of poetic impressionism is Paul Verlaine's collection Romances Without Words (1874). In Russia, the influence of impressionism was experienced by Konstantin Balmont and Innokenty Annensky.

V. Serov "Portrait of K. Balmont" (1905)

Innokenty Annensky. Photo
These sentiments also affected dramaturgy. In the plays there is a passive perception of the world, an analysis of moods, mental states. Dialogues concentrate fleeting disparate impressions. These features are characteristic of the work of Arthur Schnitzler.

In music

Musical impressionism developed in France in the last quarter of the 19th century. - the beginning of the XX century. He expressed himself most clearly in the works of Eric Satie, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.

Eric Satie
Musical impressionism is close to impressionism in French painting. They have not only common roots, but also cause-and-effect relationships. Impressionist composers sought and found not only analogies, but also expressive means in the works of Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Puvis de Chavannes and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Of course, the means of painting and the means of musical art can be connected with each other only with the help of special, subtle associative parallels that exist only in the mind. If you look at the vague image of Paris "in the autumn rain" and the same sounds, "muffled by the noise of falling drops", then here you can only talk about the property of the artistic image, but not the real image.

Claude Debussy
Debussy writes "Clouds", "Prints" (the most figurative of which, a watercolor sound sketch - "Gardens in the rain"), "Images", "Reflections on the water", which evoke direct associations with the famous painting by Claude Monet "Impression: Sunrise ". According to Mallarmé, the Impressionist composers learned to “hear the light”, to convey in sounds the movement of water, the vibration of leaves, the breath of wind and the refraction of sunlight in the evening air.

Maurice Ravel
M. Ravel has direct connections between painting and music in his sound-pictorial "The Game of Water", the cycle of pieces "Reflections", the piano collection "Rustle of the Night".
The Impressionists created works of refined art and at the same time clear in expressive means, emotionally restrained, conflict-free and strict in style.

In sculpture

O. Rodin "The Kiss"

Impressionism in sculpture was expressed in the free plasticity of soft forms, which creates a complex play of light on the surface of the material and a feeling of incompleteness. In the poses of the sculptural characters, the moment of movement and development is captured.

O. Rodin. Photograph 1891
This direction includes the sculptural works of O. Rodin (France), Medardo Rosso (Italy), P.P. Trubetskoy (Russia).

V. Serov "Portrait of Paolo Trubetskoy"

Pavel (Paolo) Trubetskoy(1866-1938) - sculptor and artist, worked in Italy, USA, England, Russia and France. Born in Italy. The illegitimate son of a Russian emigrant, Prince Pyotr Petrovich Trubetskoy.
Since childhood, I have been sculpting and painting on my own. He had no education. In the initial period of his work, he created portrait busts, works of small plastic arts, and participated in competitions for the creation of large sculptures.

P. Trubetskoy "Monument to Alexander III", St. Petersburg
The first exhibition of Paolo Trubetskoy's works took place in the USA in 1886. In 1899 the sculptor came to Russia. He takes part in the competition for the creation of a monument to Alexander III and, unexpectedly for everyone, receives the first prize. This monument caused and continues to cause conflicting assessments. It is hard to imagine a more static and heavy monument. And only a positive assessment of the imperial family allowed the monument to take the appropriate place - they found similarities with the original in the sculptural image.
Critics believed that Trubetskoy worked in the spirit of "obsolete impressionism".

Trubetskoy’s image of the brilliant Russian writer turned out to be more “impressionistic”: there is clearly movement here - in the folds of the shirt, the flowing beard, the turn of the head, there is even a feeling that the sculptor managed to catch the tension of L. Tolstoy’s thought.

P. Trubetskoy "Bust of Leo Tolstoy" (bronze). State Tretyakov Gallery