Selasa, 11 Desember 2012

The Evolution Of Modern Impressionist Artists

By Tameka Ware


The genre of painting which became known as Impressionism began around the latter half of the 19th century in Paris. A group of artists broke away from the accepted trend of depicting religious and historical subjects in a very rigid and formal manner. They began to use more color and tried to capture the effects of light and movement in their painting. Above all their brush strokes became a part of their work rather than smoothed over as in earlier paintings. These modern impressionist artists, it could be said, began to put their own feelings onto the canvas and left photographers to capture lifelike images.

There were many restless young artists in Paris at that time who wanted to make their own kind of pictures but found it difficult to go against the establishment of the day. One of the leaders was Claude Monet and it was one of his early paintings that inadvertently gave the movement its name. It was called 'Impression, Sunrise' and was not well received by the critics of the day who focused unkindly no doubt on the title, little knowing that they were creating a sort of history.

The French establishment of the day had decided that painters should constrain themselves to painting historical and religious subjects and portraiture. Paintings were somber and serious. The portraits in fact took the place of photographs which had yet to arrive.

Edouard Manet, Monet, Frederic Bazille, Alfred Sisley were among the leaders of this new movement. And move is what they did. They went out onto the streets or into countryside and painted what they saw. They did not try to create a photographic image. They watched how the light played on the subject. How the clouds moved across the sky or the breeze ruffled a lady's dress. Earlier nearly all painting was done in a studio with no such natural effects.

The techniques they employed were, for their day, revolutionary. Gone was the smooth finish with little to show that the paint had ever been applied to the canvas by brush. Now brush marks were de rigueur. Thick, short strokes of bright colors filled canvasses with pictures of workers in the fields, city street scenes and natural landscapes. Capturing the way the light fell on the fold of a dress or the movement of leaves in the breeze became of paramount importance. Black was practically banned and colors were not mixed to sludgy browns but applied as they came from the tube, side by side, not even allowing time for one to dry before its neighbor was stroked on.

Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas were influential and acquired a following in other countries as, of course, impressionism was not confined to France. Italians like Guiseppe de Nittis, English and American painters such as Walter Sickert and James Whistler all came under their influence and that of Manet. The movement grew and they held their own exhibitions outside the ambit of the Academie.

Soon their paintings were all the rage. And then, of course, new styles were developed. Brush strokes became dots for instance and painting gradually became more abstract.

Today many examples of the works of modern impressionist artists can be seen on the internet. For those aspiring to become painters this is a good way to learn different styles. There are also helpful tutorials which will explain the usage of brushes and colors in this type of painting.




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