19th century French impressionists. Artistic principles of impressionism

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

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

At first glance, the picture is made in the mainstream of traditional canons, but at the same time it already carried innovative trends. In various Parisian publications about the "Olympia" was written about 87 reviews. A lot of negative criticism fell on her - the artist was accused of vulgarity. And only a few articles could be called benevolent.

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

A distinctive feature of impressionism was the subtlest fixation of fleeting impressions, in a special manner of reproducing the light environment with the help of a complex mosaic of pure colors, fluent decorative touches.

It is curious that at the beginning of their search, the artists used a cyanometer - a tool for determining the blue of the sky. The black color was excluded from the palette, it was replaced with other color shades, which made it possible not to spoil the sunny mood of the paintings.

The Impressionists were guided by the latest scientific discoveries of their time. The theory of color by Chevreul and Helmholtz boils down to the following: the sunbeam is split into its constituent colors, and, accordingly, two paints placed on the canvas enhance the painterly effect, and when mixed, the paints lose their intensity.

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

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

Working in an open space provided more opportunity to capture the slightest color changes at different times of the day.

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

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

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

The name "Impressionism" arose after the exhibition at which Monet's painting "Impression. Sunrise". The critic L. Leroy, in his review in the Charivari edition, gave a humorous description of the 1874 exhibition, citing Monet's work as an example. Another critic, Maurice Denis, reproached the Impressionists for the lack of individuality, feeling, poetry.

At the first exhibition, about 30 artists demonstrated their works. This was the largest number in comparison with subsequent exhibitions up to 1886.

One cannot but mention the positive feedback from the Russian society. Russian artists and critics-Democrats, always keenly interested in the artistic life of France - IV Kramskoy, IE Repin and VV Stasov - praised the achievements of the Impressionists from the very first exhibition.

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

Despite the fact that all the great masters of the past made their contribution to the development of the principles of impressionism, the direct roots of the movement can most easily be found in the twenty years preceding the historical exhibition.

In parallel with the exhibitions in the Salon, the exhibitions of the Impressionists were gaining momentum. Their works demonstrated new trends in painting. This was a rebuke to salon culture and exhibition tradition. In the future, the impressionist artists managed to attract admirers of new trends in art to their side.

The theoretical knowledge and formulations of impressionism began to take shape quite late. The artists preferred more practice and their own experiments with light and color. Impressionism, especially painting, traces the legacy of realism, it clearly expresses an anti-academic, anti-salon orientation and the installation of depicting the surrounding reality of that time. Some researchers note that impressionism has become a special offshoot of realism.

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

The principal features were in the subject matter of the artists' works, in the means of artistic expression. Irina Vladimirova's book about the Impressionists includes several chapters: "Landscape, Nature, Impressions", "City, Places of Meetings and Parting", "Hobbies as a Way of Life", "People and Characters", "Portraits and Self-portraits", "Still Life". It also describes the history of creation and the location of each work.

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

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

Consider the contribution of some artists to the formation of impressionism.

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Manet received his first painting lessons from T. Couture, thanks to which the future artist acquired a lot of necessary professional skills. Due to the lack of proper attention of the teacher to his students, Manet leaves the master's studio and is engaged in self-education. He visits exhibitions in museums; old masters, especially Spanish ones, greatly influenced his creative formation.

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

His ideas on the technique of applying strokes and his relation to color were adopted by other impressionist painters. In the 1870s, Manet became close to his followers and worked in the open air without black on the palette. The arrival of impressionism was the result of the creative evolution of Manet himself. Manet's most impressionistic paintings are "In a Boat" (1874) and "Claude Monet in a Boat" (1874).

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

Shortly before his death, Manet wrote one of his masterpieces - "Bar Folies-Bergeres" (1881-1882). This picture combines several genres at once: portrait, still life, everyday scene.

N. N. Kalitina writes: “The magic of Manet's art is such that the girl is opposed to the environment, due to which her mood is revealed so clearly, and at the same time is a part, for the entire background, vaguely guessed, indefinite, agitated, is also resolved in blue and black , bluish-white, yellow tones ”.

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

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

In his youth, Monet was fond of caricature and caricature. The first models for his work were his teachers and comrades. He used cartoons in newspapers and magazines as a model. He copied drawings in "Goloa" by E. Karzh, poet and cartoonist, friend of Gustave Kubre.

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

In November 1862, in Paris, Monet continued his studies in Paris with Gleyre. Thanks to this, Monet met in his workshop with Basil, Renoir, Sisley. Young artists were preparing to enter the School of Fine Arts, respecting their teacher, who took little for his lessons and gave advice in a mild form.

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

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

Here are some examples of the artist's works - "A field of poppies at Argenteuil" (1873), "Frog" (1869), "Pond with water lilies" (1899), "Wheat stacks" (1891).

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir is one of the outstanding masters of secular portrait, in addition, he worked in the genres of landscape, everyday scenes, still life.

The peculiarity of his work is his interest in the personality of a person, the disclosure of his character and soul. In his canvases, Renoir tries to emphasize the feeling of the fullness of being. The artist is attracted by entertainment and holidays, he writes balls, walks with their movement and a variety of characters, dances.

The most famous works of the artist are "Portrait of the actress Jeanne Samary", "Umbrellas", "Bathing in the Seine", etc.

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

Music lessons influenced the formation of the artist's personality. A number of his works are related to music. They reflected the playing of the piano, guitar, mandolin. These are the paintings "Guitar Lesson", "Young Spanish Woman with Guitar", "Young Lady at the Piano", "Woman Playing the Guitar", "Piano Lesson" and others.

Jean Frederic Bazille (1841-1870)

According to his fellow artists, Basil was the most promising and outstanding impressionist.

His works are distinguished by bright colors and spirituality of images. Pierre Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet had a great influence on his career. For the beginning painters, Jean Frederic's apartment was a kind of studio and housing.

Basil wrote mainly in the open air. The main idea of ​​his work was the image of a person against the background of nature. His first heroes in paintings were his fellow artists; many impressionists were very fond of drawing each other in their works.

Frederic Bazille, in his entire work, marked the course of realistic impressionism. His most famous painting, Family Reunion (1867), is autobiographical. The artist depicts his family members on it. This work was presented at the Salon and received an acclaim from the public.

In 1870, the artist died in the Prussian-French war. After the death of the artist, his fellow artists organized the third exhibition of the Impressionists, where his canvases were also exhibited.

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

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

Later, the artist began to paint pictures on urban themes. NN Kalitina in his book notes: "He looks at the city streets from the windows of the upper floors or from the balconies, without introducing them into the composition."

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

The most famous paintings by Pissarro were Boulevard Montmartre. It is sunny in the afternoon ”,“ Opera Passage in Paris ”,“ Place of the French Theater in Paris ”,“ Garden at Pontoise ”,“ Harvest ”,“ Haymaking ”, etc.

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)

The main genre of Alfred Sisley's painting was landscape. In his early works, one can see mainly the influence of K. Corot. Gradually, in the process of joint work with C. Monet, J. F. Basil, P.O. Renoir, light colors begin to appear in his works.

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

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

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Edgar Degas is an artist who began his career with training at the School of Fine Arts. He was inspired by the painters of the Italian Renaissance, which influenced his work in general. In the beginning, Degas painted historical pictures, for example, “Spartan girls challenge Spartan youths to a competition. (1860). The main genre of his painting is portrait. In his works, the artist relies on classical traditions. He creates works marked by the thrill of his time.

Unlike his colleagues, Degas does not share the joyous, open-minded view of life and things inherent in impressionism. The artist is closer to the critical tradition of art: compassion for the fate of an ordinary person, the ability to see the souls of people, their inner world, contradiction, tragedy.

For Degas, objects and the interior that surround a person play an important role in creating a portrait. Let's cite several works as an example: "Desiree Dio with Orchestra" (1868-1869), "Portrait of a Woman" (1868), "The Morbilly Couple" (1867), etc.

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

During this period of time, such paintings as "The Star" (1878), "Miss Lola at Fernando's Circus", "Horse Racing at Epsom" and others were created.

Degas's interest in ballet became a new round of creativity. It shows the backstage life of ballerinas, talks about their hard work and hard training. But, despite this, the artist manages to find airiness and ease in conveying their images.

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

At the end of his life, due to the deterioration of his eyesight, Degas tries his hand at sculpture. The same ballerinas, women and horses become its objects. In sculpture, Degas tries to convey movement, and in order to appreciate the sculpture, you need to consider it from different angles.

Impressionism (French impressionnisme, from impression - impression), a trend in the art of the last third of the 19th - early 20th century, whose masters, fixing their fleeting impressions, sought to most naturally and unbiasedly capture the real world in its mobility and changeability. Impressionism originated in French painting in the late 1860s. Edouard Manet (who was not formally a member of the Impressionist group), Degas, Renoir, Monet brought freshness and spontaneity to the perception of life into the visual arts.

French artists turned to the image of instant situations snatched from the stream of reality, the spiritual life of a person, the image of strong passions, the spiritualization of nature, interest in the national past, the desire for synthetic forms of art are combined with the motives of world sorrow, the desire to explore and recreate the "shadow", " nocturnal "side of the human soul, with the famous" romantic irony ", which allowed romantics to boldly compare and equate the high and the low, the tragic and the comic, the real and the fantastic. Impressionist painters used fragmentary realities of situations, used at first glance unbalanced compositional constructions, unexpected angles, points of view, slices of figures.

In the 1870s and 1880s, the landscape of French impressionism was formed: C. Monet, C. Pissarro, A. Sisley developed a consistent system of plein air, created in their paintings the feeling of sparkling sunlight, the richness of colors of nature, dissolution of forms in the vibration of light and air. The name of the trend comes from the name of the painting by Claude Monet "Impression. Rising Sun" ("Impression. Soleil levant"; exhibited in 1874, now at the Museum Marmottan, Paris). The decomposition of complex colors into pure components, which were superimposed on the canvas with separate strokes, colored shadows, reflexes and valeurs gave rise to an unparalleled light, quivering painting of impressionism.

Certain aspects and techniques of this direction in painting were used by painters from Germany (M. Lieberman, L. Corinth), the USA (J. Whistler), Sweden (A.L. Zorn), Russia (K.A.Korovin, I.E. Grabar ) and many other national art schools. The concept of impressionism is also applied to sculpture of the 1880s –1910s, which has some impressionistic features - the desire to convey instantaneous movement, fluidity and softness of form, plastic sketchiness (works by O. Rodin, bronze statuettes by Degas, etc.). Impressionism in the visual arts influenced the development of expressive means of contemporary literature, music, theater. In interaction and controversy with the pictorial system of this style in the artistic culture of France in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, the currents of neo-impressionism and post-impressionism arose.

Neo-impressionism(French neo-impressionnisme) - a trend in painting that arose in France around 1885, when its main masters, J. Seurat and P. Signac, developed a new painting technique of divisionism. The French neo-impressionists and their followers (T. van Ruiselberghe in Belgium, G. Segantini in Italy and others), developing the tendencies of late impressionism, strove to apply modern discoveries in the field of optics to art, imparting a methodical character to the methods of decomposing tones into pure colors; at the same time they overcame the chance, the fragmentation of the impressionistic composition, resorted to plane-decorative solutions in their landscapes and multi-figure paintings-panels.

Post-impressionism(from Lat. post - after and impressionism) is a collective name for the main trends in French painting of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Since the mid-1880s, post-impressionist masters have been looking for new expressive means that can overcome the empiricism of artistic thinking and allow the transition from the impressionistic fixation of individual moments of life to the embodiment of its long-term states, material and spiritual constants. The period of post-impressionism is characterized by active interaction of individual trends and individual creative systems. The works of the masters of neo-impressionism, the "Nabis" group, as well as V. van Gogh, P. Cezanne, P. Gauguin are usually ranked as post-impressionism.

Reference and biographical data of the "Small Bay Planet Painting Gallery" was prepared on the basis of materials from "History of Foreign Art" (ed. By MT Kuzmina, NL Maltseva), "Art Encyclopedia of Foreign Classical Art", "Great Russian Encyclopedia".

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

Origins and history of origin

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

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

The prerequisites for the birth of the style of impressionism, whose paintings will soon find incredible success, were the works of the Renaissance. The creativity 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.

Philosophy of impressionism in painting

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

Paintings in the style of impressionism are aimed at conveying momentary mood, developing color solutions 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 thinking about 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 painting and the technique of the Impressionists. They simply abandoned many of the methods, changed some beyond recognition. Here are some of the innovations they made:

1. Abandoned the contour. It was replaced with strokes - small and contrasting.
2. We stopped using palettes for Colors that complement each other and do not require merging to get a certain effect. For example, yellow is purple.
3. They stopped painting in black.
4. They completely refused to work in the workshops. They painted exclusively on nature, so that it was easier to capture a moment, an image, a feeling.
5. Only paints with good hiding power were used.
6. We didn't wait for the new layer to dry. Fresh smears were applied immediately.
7. 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 stand-alone artist. Edgar Degas worked only in workshops, but this did not harm the quality of his works.

Representatives of French impressionism

The first exhibition of Impressionist works dates back to 1874. 12 years later, their last exposition took place. The first work in this style can be called "Breakfast on the Grass" by E. Manet. This painting was presented at the Salon of the Outcast. It was greeted unfriendly, as it was very different from the academic canons. That is why Manet becomes a figure around which a circle of followers of this stylistic trend gathers.

Unfortunately, such a style as impressionism was not appreciated by contemporaries. Paintings and artists existed in opposition to official art.

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

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

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

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

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

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir's creations create the impression of extraordinary lightness, airiness, ethereality. The plot was born as if by accident, but it is known that the artist carefully thought out 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 glaze, 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 nude paintings.

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

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

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

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

The paintings "Sunday", "Cancan", "Models" can be called masterpieces of creativity.

Representatives of Russian impressionism

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

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

In Russia, few artists worked in the 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.

Pictures conquer with their freshness and consonance of pure colors. The main theme of this artist's work is the depiction of a person in nature. "Northern idyll", "In a boat", "Fyodor Chaliapin" - bright milestones in the activities of K. Korovin.

Impressionism in modern times

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

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

The whole world knows the watercolor works of Laurent Parsellier. His Strange World series has been released as postcards. Gorgeous, vibrant and sensual, they will take your breath away.

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

fr. impression - impression) - the direction in the art of the last third of the nineteenth - early. XX centuries, whose representatives began to paint landscapes and genre scenes directly from nature, trying to convey the sun glare, the breath of the wind, the rustle of the grass, the movement of the city crowd with very clean and intense colors. The Impressionists sought to most naturally and impartially capture the real world in its mobility and changeability, to convey their fleeting impressions.

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IMPRESSIONISM

French impressionnisme, from impression - impression), the direction in the art of con. 1860 - early. 1880s It manifested itself most vividly in painting. Leading representatives: C. Monet, O. Renoir, C. Pissarro, A. Guillaume, B. Morisot, M. Cassatt, A. Sisley, G. Caillebotte and J. F. Basil. Together with them, E. Manet and E. Degas exhibited their paintings, 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 fierce 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 "-" impressed ". The painters performed under this title at the third joint exhibition (1877). Then they began to publish the Impressionist magazine, each issue of which was dedicated to the work of one of the group members.

The Impressionists strove to capture the world around them in its constant changeability, fluidity, to express their direct impressions with an open mind. Impressionism was based on the latest discoveries of optics and color theory (spectral decomposition of a sunbeam into seven colors of the rainbow); in this he is consonant with the spirit of scientific analysis, characteristic of the con. 19th century However, the Impressionists themselves did not try to define 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, outdoors (in the open air) and even built a workshop in a boat. Degas worked in the workshop from memories or using photographs. Unlike representatives of later radical movements, the artists did not go beyond the framework of the Renaissance illusory-spatial system based on the use of direct perspective. They firmly adhered to the method of working from nature, which they elevated to the main principle of creativity. The 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 paints were applied to the canvas with small separate strokes: multi-colored "dots" lay side by side, mixing into a colorful spectacle not on the palette or on the canvas, but in the eye of the viewer. The Impressionists achieved an unprecedented sonority of color, an unprecedented richness of shades. The smear has become an independent means of expressiveness, filling the surface of the painting with a vibrant shimmering vibration of color particles. The canvas was likened to a mosaic shimmering with precious colors. In the former painting, black, gray, brown shades prevailed; in the canvases of the Impressionists, 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 sound of the color. In Monet's paintings, colors were lightened and dissolved in the radiance of rays of sunlight, local colors took on many shades.

The Impressionists depicted the world around them in perpetual motion, the transition from one state to another. They began to paint a series of paintings, wishing 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 found ways to reflect the movement of clouds in their paintings (A. Sisley. "Louan at Saint-Mamme", 1882), the play of glare of sunlight (O. Renoir. "Swing", 1876), gusts of wind (C. Monet. "Terrace in Saint-Adresse ", 1866), streams of rain (G. Caillebotte." Ier. Rain Effect ", 1875), falling snow (C. Pissarro." Opera Passage. Snow Effect ", 1898), the rapid run of horses (E. Manet . "Horse Racing at Longchamp", 1865).

The Impressionists developed new principles for building composition. Previously, the space of the picture was likened to the 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 was himself a passionate photographer and, in his own words, sought to catch the ballerinas he portrayed by surprise, to see them "as if through a keyhole" when their poses, body lines natural, expressive and authentic. The creation of paintings in the open air, the desire to capture the rapidly changing lighting forced the artists to speed up their work, to write "alla prima" (in one step), without preliminary sketches. The fragmentation, "randomness" of the composition and the dynamic style of painting created a feeling of special freshness in the paintings of the Impressionists.

The favorite impressionistic genre was landscape; the portrait was also a kind of "face landscape" (O. Renoir. "Portrait of the actress J. Samary", 1877). In addition, the artists significantly expanded the range of plots in painting, turning to themes that were previously considered unworthy of attention: festivities, horse races, picnics of artistic bohemia, behind-the-scenes life of theaters, etc. However, their paintings do not have a detailed plot, a detailed narration; 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 strove to free art from the fulfillment of social, political and moral tasks, from the obligation to assess the depicted phenomena. Artists glorified the beauty of the world, being able to transform the most everyday motif (renovation of a room, gray London fog, steam locomotive smoke, etc.) into an enchanting spectacle (G. Caillebotte. "Parquetry", 1875; C. Monet. "Station Saint-Lazare" , 1877).

In 1886 the last exhibition of the Impressionists took place (O. Renoir and C. Monet did not participate in it). By this time, significant disagreements 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 their own path in art.

Impressionism as a holistic creative method was a phenomenon of predominantly French art, but the work of the Impressionists influenced the whole of European painting. The desire to update the artistic language, highlighting the colorful palette, exposing pictorial techniques have now firmly entered the arsenal of artists. In other countries, J. Whistler (England and the USA), M. Lieberman, L. Corinth (Germany), H. 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, etc.).

In addition to painting, impressionism was embodied in the work of some sculptors (E. Degas and O. Rodin in France, M. Rosso in Italy, P.P. Trubetskoy in Russia) in the living free modeling of fluid soft forms, which creates a complex play of light on the surface of the material and a feeling of incompleteness of the work; the poses capture the moment of movement, development. In music, the works of C. Debussy ("Sails", "Mists", "Reflections in the Water", etc.) reveal a closeness to impressionism.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

"Exhibition of the Impressionists", based on the title of Claude Monet's painting "Impression. Rising sun "(fr. Impression, soleil levant). Initially, this term was somewhat dismissive, indicating the appropriate 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 tendencies of rejection of realism gained strength, and a new generation of artists turned their backs on impressionism.

The emergence of the name

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

The specifics 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 an art to a certain extent campy and mannerist, focuses on the superficiality, fluidity of the moment, mood, lighting or angle of view.

Like the art of the Renaissance (Renaissance), impressionism is built on the characteristics and skills of perception of perspective. At the same time, Renaissance vision explodes with the proven subjectivity and relativity of human perception, which makes color and form autonomous constituents of the image. For Impressionism, what is shown in the picture is not so important, but how it is shown is important.

Impressionist paintings do not carry social criticism, do not touch on 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

Democratism is inherent in impressionism. By inertia, art in the 19th century was considered a monopoly of aristocrats, the upper strata of the population. They were the main customers for paintings, monuments, they were the main buyers of paintings and sculptures. Plots with the hard work of the peasants, the tragic pages of our time, the shameful sides of wars, poverty, social troubles were condemned, disapproved, 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 took quite a compromise, intermediate position. Biblical, literary, mythological, historical plots inherent in official academicism were discarded. On the other hand, they fervently desired recognition, respect, even awards. The activity of Edouard Manet is indicative, who for years has been seeking 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 rest, represented a view of a certain place under a certain lighting, nature was also the motive of their work. They took plots of flirting, dancing, staying in a cafe and a theater, boat trips, on beaches and in gardens. Judging by the paintings of the Impressionists, then life is a line of small holidays, parties, pleasant pastime outside the city or in a friendly environment (a number of paintings by Renoir, Manet and Claude Monet). The Impressionists were one of 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 Rud. The sunbeam is split into its components: violet, blue, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, but since blue is a kind of blue, their number is reduced to six. Two paints placed side by side reinforce each other and, conversely, when mixed, they lose their intensity. In addition, all colors are divided into primary, or basic, and doubled, or derivatives, while each doubled paint is complementary to the first:

• Blue - Orange
• Red Green
• Yellow - Purple

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

Then the Impressionists cease to concentrate all work on canvases in workshops, now they prefer plein air, where it is more convenient to grasp 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, which poorly transmit light 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 catch a fleeting impression, the smallest changes in each subject depending on the lighting and time of day, the highest incarnation was Monet's cycles of paintings "Haystacks", "Rouen Cathedral" and "Parliament of London".

In general, many artists worked in the style of impressionism, but the basis of the movement was Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Frederic 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 in the open air.

Timeline by artist

Impressionists

Exhibitions

• First exhibition(April 15 - May 15)

• Second exhibition(April )

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

• Third exhibition(April )

Address: st. Lepeletier, 6. Participants: Guillaumene, Degas, Caillebotte, Kals, Corday, Lever, Liami, Monet, Morisot, Alphonse Moreau, Piette, Pissarro, Renoir, Roir, Cezanne, Sisley, Tillot, François.

• Fourth exhibition(April 10 - May 11)

Address: Avenue Opera, 28. Participants: Bracquemont, Madame Braquemont, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Kals, Cassatt, Lebourg, Monet, Piette, Pissarro, Ruar, Somme, Tillo, Foren.

• Fifth Exhibition(April 1 - April 30)

Address: st. Pyramids, 10. Participants: Braquemont, Madame Braquemont, Vidal, Vignon, Guillaume, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Caillebotte, Cassatt, Lebourg, Lever, Morisot, Pissarro, Rafaelli, Ruar, Tillot, Foren.

• Sixth Exhibition(April 2 - May 1)

Address: Boulevard Kapucinok, 35 (studio of the photographer Nadar). Participants: Vidal, Vignon, Guillaumene, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Cassatt, Morisot, Pissarro, Rafaelli, Ruar, Tillot, Foren.

• Seventh Exhibition(March )

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

• Eighth Exhibition(May 15 - June 15)

Address: st. Laffitt, 1. Participants: Madame Braquemont, Vignon, Guillaumene, Gauguin, Degas, Zandomeneghi, Cassette, Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Lucien Pissarro, Redon, Ruar, Seurat, Signac, Tillot, Foren, 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 the objective picture of reality, the depiction of every moment, which should have entailed the absence of a plot, history and the replacement of thought by perception, and reason by 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 - that's all the art"Has become a central position for many writers.

In naturalism, the main principle was truthfulness, loyalty 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 the secret essence in visible things. A striking example of poetic impressionism - collection