Impressionism

Question 1

Impressionists and Independent Art exhibitions

Answer 1

1. 1863 - Napoleon III established the salon des refuses (salon of the rejected) to exhibit works rejected by the official salon
2. 1867 - Manet held a private exhibition of his own paintings
3. 1873 - the Anonymous society of painters, sculptors and engravers was founded by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and Sisley, among others
4. 1874 - Monet’s impression: sunrise was badly criticized and the group was ironically named the “impressionists”
5. from 1874 - 1886, the group held 8 exhibitions

Question 2

Impressionism characteristics

Answer 2

1. attitude - anti academic standard and values
2. influenced by realism
   — liberation of art from traditional themes, painting real people, real life
   — painting en plein air, finished works outdoor, under sunlight
   — pursuit of optical realism - captured the fleeting moment of the rapidly changing world, conveying the elusiveness and impermanence of images and conditions
3. themes
   — contemporary lifestyles - modern parisian life and leisure activities (horse-racing, water sport, parties, performances etc)
   — images of the “floating world” - influence of japanese art
   — images of Bohemian artists and their friends
   — landscape and cityscapes
4. styles
   — developed a scientific attitude towards the structure of colour and light - systematic use of complementary colours, use of coloured shadows (form eugene Delacroix) (sepia eliminated)
   — juxtaposing colours bluntly instead of mixing them together to achieve smooth transitions
   — broken brushstrokes, blurry images, sketch-like finish
5. influenced by japanese woodcut prints
   — unusual format, angle of composition, themes, homogeneous colour (flatness, abstraction)
6. influenced by photography
   — snapshot-like compositions, arbitrary poses and figures

Question 3

Edouard Manet

Answer 3

1. born in paris in a rich family
2. studied with thomas couture, a neoclassicist
3. attracted by Delacroix’s theory of colour and Corot’s idea of realism
4. attracted by spanish and dutch baroque painting
5. 1865 - travelled to spain, deeply impressed by the works of francisco de goya
6. influenced and was influenced by the core members of the impressionists, but never exhibited with them
7. is he a realist or impressionist?

Question 4

Edouard Manet - Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe (Luncheon on the grass)

Answer 4

1. persons in the foreground: Manet’s brother Eugene, sculptor Ferdinand Leenhof, and model Victorine Meurend
   — ManetL the chief actor in the painting is light - objects are treated as flat planes reacting to light perceived by the eyes
2. exhibited in Salon des Refuses, its subject matter and style shocked the world
3. critique: ordinary men and promiscuous women in a parisian park
4. inspirations
   — Marcantonio Raimondi - Judgement of Paris
   —— Manet adopted the classicial triangular composition and posture of figures of this painting
   — Giorgione or titan - Country Concert
   —— renaissance venetian painting

Question 5

Edouard Manet - Olympia

Answer 5

1. scandalous - a prostitute with a confrontational gaze in a shameless, provocative pose
2. critique - rough brushstrokes, abrupt shifts in tonality, composition in pure colours, no intermediate tones to fuse the different colour together
3. inspired by Titan - Venus of Urbino

Question 6

Alexandre Cabanel - the birth of venus

Answer 6

1. had tremendous success in the Salon of 1863
2. traditional and academic - diffused light, realistic rendering, smooth finish
3. appeals to the taste of the high society - eroticism in disguise of mythological subject

Question 7

Edouard Manet - execution of emperor maximilian

Answer 7

1. critique on Napoleon III’s politics in Mexico
2. In a trip to spain in 1865, Manet discovered the works of Francisco de goya and was very impressed by him, so he created a few works modelling on those of goya (executions of the third of may)
3. Note: flatness of the uniformed and the sketchy finish of the background

Question 8

Edouard Manet - Monet working in his boat in Argenteuil

Answer 8

1. influenced by Monet and his friends, painted with him en plein air (in open air)
2. Manet came from a rich family and was never a close friend of those “Bohemian artists” Nevertheless he was introduced to Monet through Berthe Morisot and became a friend of Monet

Question 9

Claude Oscar Monet

Answer 9

1. born in a poor family in Paris
2. 1845- moved to a Le Havre( Normandy) worked as a caricaturist
3. 1850s and 1860s - influenced by Pre-impressionistis
   — Eugene Boudin, a local landscape painter
   — Johann Barthold Jongkind, a dutch landscape painter
   — to catch the ever-changing colour and light and to represent the vivid and vital energy of objects
4. early 1860s, moved to Bougival and became neighbour of Marc Gabriel Gleyre (neo-classicist)
5. 1870-71 - stayed in London because of Franco-Prussian war
6. 1871-78, moved to Argenteuil, sometimes lived in his boat studio
7. 1883, settled in Giverny
8. renowned as a landscape painter

Question 10

Claude Monet - Women in the Garden

Answer 10

1. painted totally outdoor to capture the bright sunlight on the dresses, the ground and the trees, and other objects
2. impressionists: painters of light

Question 11

Claude Monet - La Grenouillere (frog Pond)

Answer 11

1. western suburb of paris, a meeting place of sportsmen and strollers along river seine in Bougival
2. developed the characteristic coarse, broken brushstrokes of impressionism: let human eye do the colour-mixing
3. technique: thick, flat colour patches (e.g. white, blue, ochre, brown) are juxtaposed to a capture the movement of the water surface
4. theme: sunlight, water movement
5. purpose: capture the fleeting and floating light effect on objects
6. impressionists: painters of water surface

Question 12

Auguste Renoir - La Grenouillere

Answer 12

1. was a neighbour of Monet in Bougival, painted often together
2. Renoir’s emphasis is more on human figures and activities: an enclosed composition with the focus on the human group in the center

Question 13

Claude Monet - The thames below westminster

Answer 13

1. developed atmospheric landscape under the influence of constable, turner and whistler during his stay in london from 1870-71
2. monet enriched his themes to paint atmospheric elements which affect the perception of the human eye
3. impressionists: painters of the air

Question 14

James McNeill - Nocturne in Blue and Gold

Answer 14

1. American painter active in Paris and London
2. compared painting to music
3. paintings: harmonious arrangement of shapes and colours
4. achieving atmospheric effects through abstraction of form and colour
5. composition influenced by japanese woodcut prints

Question 15

Claude Monet - Impression: sunrise

Answer 15

1. a harbour in Le Havre seen through the morning mists
2. criticized as “worse than a wall-paper design in the embryonic stage”
3. inspired by Turner’s indistinct images of water landscapes - use of muddy colour in the background; unlike Turner’s violent romantic landscapes, Monet’s are calm and tranquil

Question 16

Claude Monet - Gare Saint-Lazare (The Auteuil line)

Answer 16

1. a study of the atmospheric effect of vapour produced by the steam under the glass roof of the railway station

Question 17

Claude Monet - Rouen Cathedral, the Portal and St. Romain tower in bad weather (harmony in grey)

Answer 17

1. a more challenging subject than the earlier series - fretting of the sculpted surface produces more profound effects of shadow, esp in recesses of the pointed-arched portal
2. heavy, thick paint was applied wet-on-wet to build up the coarse texture of the surface

Question 18

Claude Monet - Rouen Cathedral, the Portal and St. Romain tower in bad weather (harmony in blue and gold)

Answer 18

1. texture thus created imitates and exaggerates the light changes on the surface
2. within 3 years, monet produced around 30 views of the same facade during different times of a day and different seasons of a year

Question 18

Claude Monet - Rouen Cathedral, the Portal and St. Romain tower in bad weather (harmony in blue and gold)

Answer 18

1. texture thus created imitates and exaggerates the light changes on the surface
2. within 3 years, monet produced around 30 views of the same facade during different times of a day and different seasons of a year

Question 19

Claude Monet - Japanese footbridge

Answer 19

1. from 1899 to 1926, worked almost exclusively on the pond and water lilies; he produced some 250 pieces on this theme
2. settled in Giverny in 1883
3. produced series of paintings with simplified subjects for exclusive, detailed study of light effect
4. japanese bridge is a recurrent motif in the last phase of Monet’s art
   5.refer to Ukiyo-e woodcut prints by Utagawa Hiroshige
   — man on horseback crossing a bridge
   — japonisme - influence of japanese art on late 19th century western art

Question 20

Claude Monet - Les Nympheas (Water Lilies: Morning)

Answer 20

1. last phase of his water lilies series - extremely large in scale, covering walls of a whole exhibition hall, absence of any reference of physical reality, complete abstraction of colour

Question 21

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Answer 21

1. born in Limoges
2. moved to paris
3. worked as a porcelain painter and then a textile painter
4. entered Marc Gabriel Gleyre’s studio
5. used thick paint, bright colour and painted in open air with other impressionists
6. imitated Delacroix’s themes of oriental women
7. travelled to africa and italy
8. renowned as a painter of beautiful women and lovely children, joyful situations, dancing parties - pay homage to Rococo painters

Question 22

Auguste Renoir - The Loge

Answer 22

1. theme of contemporary Parisian life
2. well-dressed couple in an opera box - Nini Lopez and the painter’s brother served as models
   3.signature feathery brushstrokes - created a texture with pillowy softness that invites the spectator
3. refer to Garden of love by Peter Paul Rubens
   — double portrait of Rubens and his young wife helena fourment; loose and thick brushstrokes give a not very concrete image - anticipates impressionism

Question 23

Auguste Renoir - Ball at the Moulin de la Galette

Answer 23

1. scene of a sunday dance of the working class in an outdoor dancing hall in Montmartre
2. captured the pulse of contemporary city life
3. gas lamps, sunlight penetrates through the foliage of the trees

Question 24

Auguste Renoir - two sisters (On the terrace)

Answer 24

1. Renoir was extremely successful in portraiture 2. foreground - intensive saturated colours 3. background - duller colours to represent objects seen in humid air 4. pure colours used by Renoir - lead white, vermilion, emerald, green, cobalt blue and Naples yellow, crimson, ultramarine (typical colour of Renoir) 6. white is added wet-on-wet on top of them

Question 25

Auguste Renoir - Place Clichy

Answer 25

1. many impressionists are interested in photography 2. composition imitates the snapshot of a busy corner of Paris 3. spontaneity of a woman appearing on the right 4. background is out of focus as in a photo

Question 26

Auguste Renoir - Bathers

Answer 26

1. a travel to italy in early 1880s caused Renoir to doubt his technique and belief; he began to think about the notion of eternity in classical art 2. renoir doubted the impressionistic method since 1883 and changed subsequently towards classical style 3. painted totally in studio - reduction of effects of shadows on the bodies 4. classical pyramidal composition

Question 27

Auguete Renoir - Study Sketch for the bathers, study torso of a woman in the sunlight

Answer 27

1. study sketch for the bathers --- returned to academic method and style: did preparatory sketches for the bathers - artificial posture; fine details; precise form with sharp contours, smooth and flat painted surface 2. study torso of a woman in the sunlight --- impressionist style

Question 28

Edgar Degas

Answer 28

1. born in a rich banker family 2. learnt from the neoclassicist, Jean-August-Dominique Ingres, then entered French Academy, wanted to be a history painter 3. met Manet and became good friends because of similar background and taste, attracted by Japanese Ukiyo-e paintings 3. although participated in all 8 impressionists' exhibitions, he never mingled with the impressionists, nor created finished works outdoor 4. experimented with different media, sometimes mixed - oil, pastels or chalk on paper, sculpture, photography 5. renowned for genre themes of modern life - race track scenes, cafes, ballerinas, working women, women at their toilet

Question 29

edgar degas - racehorses in front of the grandstand

Answer 29

1. a favourite leisure activity of Parisian high society 2. influence of japanese woodcut prints - forms defined by black contours, flat colour patches, asymmetrical composition 3. influence of photography - analysis of movement of horses

Question 30

Eadweard Muybridge - the horse in motion

Answer 30

1. photography was used to generate sequences of stop-motion images which were used to analyse the motion of a horse and to prove whether a galloping horse lifts all four hooves off the ground

Question 31

Edgar Degas - dance class

Answer 31

1. degas went backstage to observe rehearsals, captured the casual mood of a group of mice listening to jules perrot, a star choreographer 2. limited range of colour mixed with small patches of primary colours and intense greens; thin, translucent white for the tutus 3. girl scratching her back and dog looking curiously

Question 32

edgar degas - dancer with a bouquet saluting on the stage

Answer 32

1. research on the effect of different angles of stage lighting on colour 2. yellow-orange tones for the bright light cast from above and below 3. violet as shadows; green to neutralize colours --- colours that appear opposite each other on the colour wheel --- when juxtaposed, they compete to stand out and become vibrant on a painting

Question 33

edgar degas - seated dancer

Answer 33

1. degas mixed chalk and pastels with oils and other paints 2. softness of the flesh and the airy quality of the tutu - reminiscent of the texture of Renoir's beautiful women 3. he submitted pastels as finished works to exhibitions

Question 34

Edgar Degas - ironers

Answer 34

1. depicts the poor at work 2. catches their fleeting, everyday movements 3. the representation is neither heroic nor caricatured (compare Honore Daumier)

Question 35

Edgar Degas - in a cafe, or absinthe

Answer 35

1. cafe - meeting place for bohemian intellectuals 2. ellen andre and marcellin desboutin posed for the painting 3. absence of communication, alienation of modern man

Question 36

Japonisme

Answer 36

1. denotes the fascination of the french with japanese art and culture 2. japan opened up to the west 3. japan participated in the exposition universelle (world exposition) in paris 4. the exoticism and alternative standard of beauty appealed to fashionable parisian society 5. themes of Ukiyo-e prints - contemporary daily life, theatre performances, lower-class people, famous courtesans, landscapes, legends and myths, erotic and provocative scenes 6. ukiyo-e scenes of the "floating world", the concept reinforces the impressionist idea of capturing the fleeting moment of the world

Question 37

Claude Monet - La Japaonaise ( Camille Monet in Japanese Costume)

Answer 37

1. japonisme is more than just a display of japanese props in a composition

Question 38

Edgar Degas - Mary cassatt in Louvre

Answer 38

1. japanese influence: unusually long format, high angle of presentation and truncated figures 2. refer to Stranger at the gate by Isoda Koryusai

Question 39

edgar Degas - women on the terrace of a cafe in the evening

Answer 39

1. theme - prostitutes waiting for customers 2. setting: an interior opening to the outside 3. architectural elements cuts the figure into halves --- refer to Women viewing a snowy garden from a parlor by Torii Kiyonaga --- geishas enjoying a leisure moment in a setting which opens to the exterior --- figure cut into halves by an architectural element

Question 40

edgar degas - the tub

Answer 40

1. high angle of presenting the figure and objects 2. table on the right - no foreshortening, treated as 2-dimensional surface 3. refer to Aphrodite or @Crouching Venus@ --- degas combined the tradition of two diverse cultures: european classical and japanese 4. refer to Woman after a bath, from "comparison of alluring beauties" --- degas collected Japanese prints, he owned this print, which inspired him to create various works of a similar theme - women at their toilet

Question 41

camille Pissarro

Answer 41

---Landscapes and cityscapes in impressionism --- settled in paris in 1855 --- learned landscape painting with Gustave Courbet and Camille Corot

Question 42

Alfred Sisley

Answer 42

---Landscapes and cityscapes in impressionism --- a british born in paris --- became student of Marc Gabriel Gleyre, established friendship with Monet and Renoir ---influenced by Constable and Turner, but attracted to the bright colour and sunny landscape of Corot

Question 43

Camille Pissaro - self-portrait

Answer 43

1. figure - lifted through alternative use of 2 basic colours, cream and brown; careful study of the reflection of light of different parts of thesurfaces

Question 44

Camille Pissarro - Entrance to the village of Voisins

Answer 44

1. favourite motives: village road flanked by trees running into the depth 2. light colour and shadows - bright sunshine

Question 45

Camille Pissarro - red roofs,corner of a village

Answer 45

1. put emphasis on the geometric structure of landscapes - exerted influence on Paul Cezanne 2. used thick impasto of light tones to catch light

Question 46

Alfred sisley - boat in the flood at port marly

Answer 46

1. impressionistic water landscape combined with a sky typical of 17th century dutch painting 2. the food of seine in 1876 gave the painter a good chance to study the reflection of house, trees, and people on water surface

Question 47

Gustave Caillebotte - Paris Street; rainy day

Answer 47

1. Haussmannian apartments 2. Haussmann renovation 3. gas streetlights - installed in paris since 1828 4. alienation of city dwellers

Question 48

Camille Pissarro - La place du theatre francais

Answer 48

1. a crowded Paris square seen from several stories about street level 2. Pissarro used photography to capture scenes he wanted to paint 3. similarities with photography --- spatial flatness because of the high viewpoint --- arbitrary cutting-off of figures at the edges

Question 49

women painters

Answer 49

1. still not acceptable socially for women to paint outdoor 2. typical works - intimate, indoors scenes, family and leisure activities 3. outdoor scenes - studio compositions with models or created in semi-open private premises

Question 50

Berthe Morisot

Answer 50

1. first woman impressionist, student of Camille Corot, sister-in-law of Edouard Manet 2. made close friendship and exhibited with the impressionists

Question 51

Berthe Morisot - cradle

Answer 51

1. theme: family life of well-to-do women and children 2. translucent paint, feathery brushstrokes - softness and warmth 3. distinct zones of black and white tones - influence from manet's olympia

Question 52

Berthe Morisot - in a villa at the seaside

Answer 52

1. vacation of the painter with her upper class family in normandy 2. foreground - in short, quick suggestive strokes 3. background - homogeneous treatment of sky and sea

Question 53

Berthe Morisot - summer's day

Answer 53

1. undefined contours, quick, coarse and zig-zag brushstrokes - energize Monet and Renoir's clam water surface

Question 54

Mary Cassatt

Answer 54

1. born in Pittsburgh of a wealthy family 2. studied in Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts 3. 1866 - moved to france, befriended Edgar Degas 4. only american to exhibit with the impressionists 5. dealer of impressionist paintings for wealthy american collectors

Question 55

mary cassatt - the child's bath

Answer 55

1. influence of japanese woodblock prints: high vantage point, female subject 2. favourite theme: women caring for children, created also in pastels ( learnt from degas) 3. refer to: Bathtime by Kitagawa Utamaro

Question 56

Mary Cassatt - the boating party

Answer 56

1. hard contours, flat surfaces, simplified colour blocks 2. bold geometry and decorative patterning - connect her with post-impressionists