Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Born in 1832 in France, Manet originally wanted to be a naval officer, but after failing the entrance exam twice, he became an artist instead. After his paintings were brutalized by every French critic, he moved to Spain. His works were decidedly modern. While he stated that he had no intention of overthrowing current styles or creating some grand new era of art, his paintings offered a foothold that other modern painters used to explore the new style.[1]
Manet's last major work, A Bar at the Folies Bergere, still sparks controversy today. The bar was a notorious place to find a prostitute. The Parisians were unsettled by the inability to tell if the subject of the painting was a common barmaid or a prostitute.[2] The woman's face is unreadable and has a complex emotion that changes each time it is viewed. The painting communicates terrible uncertainty. The reflection is deliberately distorted, classes are mixed in the background, and we are unsure of our relationship to either the women or the painting.[3]
A Bar at the Folies Bergere, Edouard Manet.
Courtesy of Courtauld Institute of Art. Public Domain.
Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
Even though he is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionist art, Degas rejected the term, preferring to see himself as a Realist. His works focused on the human aspect, specifically dance, for which he had a lifelong admiration. The Bellelli Family is a beautiful study in tension and dynamics. The Bellelli Family consists of Degas' father's sister (Laure), with her husband (the Baron Bellelli), and their two daughters, Giula and Giovanna. Displaying impressive stoicism, Laure mourns the death of her father while Baron Bellelli seems aloof and unconcerned. The children are seven and ten. On the right, the youngest seems to be trying to escape from the bonds of formality and responsibility while the eldest is already captured by the weight of the world.[4]
The Bellelli Family, Degas.
Courtesy of Musée d'Orsay. Public Domain.
Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
An important figure in the Impressionist Movement, Renoir sought to display the viewer's first impression upon seeing an object.[5] Luncheon of the Boating Party captures the changing Paris society, as many different types of classes are represented. The work is designed to present an idealized view of French society as Renoir observed it.[6]
Luncheon of the Boating Party, Renoir.
Courtesy of The Phillips Collection. Public Domain.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
An American artist, Whistler was famous for his loud verbal and legal retaliation to those who criticized his work. He was a forerunner of abstract art, moving away from a clear narrative and defined story to something more open to interpretation -- "Art for art's sake," as Whistler famously said.[7]
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket is one painting that epitomizes Whistler's abstract tastes. Painted in loving, almost wistful, and whimsical strokes, the picture depicts a firework exploding over a body of water. While some saw his painting as reckless and ugly, others found it liberating in that there was a lack of a cohesive narrative, allowing the viewer to engage directly in the creative process.[8]
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, Whistler.
Courtesy of Detroit Institute of Arts. Public Domain.
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
French painter Cezanne had one of the most varied painting styles in his era. He formed the bridge between the Impressionists and the supporters of Cubism, and many believe he is the founder of modern art. His work is very distinct and highly recognizable, one of his most famous being his painting of Mont Sainte-Victoire. Completed in 1904, the painting is of Mont Sainte-Victoire in the Aix-en-Provence of France, which would become a major theme of his work over the course of his life. The painting and style were varied enough that they combined elements of Impressionism with ideals from Cubism to make an ordinary object extraordinary.[9]
Cezanne is renowned for his short precise brush strokes, creating simultaneous sensations of movement and stillness.
Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cézanne.
Courtesy of Philadelphia Museum of Art. Public Domain.
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
A leading member of the Impressionists, Monet was a passionate landscape artist whose work was used to name the entire Impressionist movement.[10] The Rose Path, Giverny, is almost hedonistic in its use of color. Monet was very particular about maintaining his garden, and this work shows the thunderously vibrant pull of nature constrained into a tunnel that seems to beckon the viewer deeper into nature's embrace.
The Rose Path, Ginercy, Monet.
Courtesy of Wikiart. Public Domain.
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Berthe Morisot was a successful artist in France who made essential contributions to the Impressionist Movement. She was famous for her ability to convey femininity as mortal and accessible which is in contrast to goddesses and female saints of the past.[11] One of her most famous paintings, The Cradle, depicts Morisot's sister Edma gazing down at her daughter Blanche—the first time Morisot addressed motherhood in her works. The painting has two interlocking triangles between mother and child, lending harmony and a sense of connection between the two. Just as the child is veiled from the world, the mother's thoughts and expressions are ambiguous to the viewer.[12]
The Cradle, Morisot.
Courtesy of Musée d'Orsay. Public Domain.
Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)
Trained as an Impressionist, Gauguin broke away to found a new style of art called Symbolism, playing with new colors and ideas as he traveled to other cultures in the South Pacific. His style marries observation, mythological symbolism, and artistic styles from indigenous peoples.[13] Nevermore was painted in 1897 in Tahiti and seems to communicate his ideal of the native Tahiti culture. He used the classic nude, adapted for this culture and place. The subject's face and arms have more expression and independence than are traditionally found in European art. This figure is not flirtatious and there for the viewer's pleasure, but conveys emotion which gives the subject depth.[14] At the same time, modern critics have been critical of Gauguin’s labeling it voyeuristic.
Nevermore, Gauguin.
Courtesy of Courtauld Institute of Art. Public Domain.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Born in the Netherlands, Van Gogh is widely regarded as one of the greatest artists to ever live. His vibrant colors and sympathetic brushwork lent his art a resounding quality that proved profoundly influential.[15] One of his most famous paintings, Starry Night, currently hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Starry Night is unique because the painting shows the ebbs and flow of light, seemingly making the stars twinkle and shine. This is accomplished by taking advantage of two parts of the brain, one that smears similar colors together and one that doesn't. The interplay between these two parts of the brain produces the illusion of a luminous twinkle.[16] The painting was made from memory while van Gogh was in the asylum at Saint-Rémy, where he had admitted himself after mutilating his own ear.[17]
This video further expands on the similarities between Van Gogh's work and turbulence.
Starry Night, Van Gogh.
Courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
John Singer Sargent (1853-1890)
Born in Florence, Sargent trained in Paris under his parents' tutelage. He is widely regarded as one of the best portraitists of the 19th century. He was known for his Impressionist portraits. In many ways, Sargent was one of the last to capture the golden age of the European aristocracy that died with the advent of World War I.[18] Finished in 1882, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit depicts the four daughters of Edward Darley Boit, a wealthy Bostonian living in Paris. Each girl has a distinct stance and unique individual personality. Sargent shows off his interest in and mastery of light and shadow. The painting is beautiful but also distressing in its unusual break from tradition. One of the girl's faces is completely shadowed, the expression only viable in profile. The distance between the daughters and the space itself all lend to a quiet sense of unease.[19]
The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, Sargent.
Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.
Georges Seurat (1856-1925)
Seurat delighted in showing people as they went about everyday activities. His paintings played with scale, deliberately misrepresenting some figures to draw attention to a particular point, noting a return to primitivism.[20] He finished Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte in 1886, where it was a standout piece in the last Impressionist exhibition and inspired critic Félix Fénéon to invent the name 'Neo-Impressionism.' The painting is comprised solely of dots, like pixels of color on a computer screen, allowing the viewer to blend colors as they see them rather than have them be blended on the canvas.[21]
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte, Seurat.
Courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago. Public Domain.
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Born to immigrant parents in Austria in 1862, Klimt had a childhood stricken with poverty. Despite this, he grew to become one of the prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) Movement, which sought to found a new style of art focused on modernizing and escaping the tired, ecclesiastic themes that had dominated art for over a thousand years. The Kiss is Klimt's blatant celebration of sexual love, and it epitomizes both Klimt's own golden phase and the style of Art Nouveau. He used fine colors and materials to communicate the preciousness of the subject as well as to invoke the feel of early medieval tapestries with halos around saints; the connection between the intimate and the holy is entirely intentional.[22]
The Kiss, Klimt.
Courtesy of Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. Public Domain.
Works Cited
Footnotes
[1] Rabinow, “Édouard Manet (1832–1883) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
[2] “Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.”
[3] Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.
[4] “Musée d’Orsay: Edgar Degas The Bellelli Family.”
[5] “Pierre Auguste Renoir - The Complete Works - Pierre-Auguste-Renoir.Org.”
[6] “Luncheon of the Boating Party.”
[7] “James Abbott McNeill Whistler Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”
[8] “James Abbott McNeill Whistler Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”
[9] “Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire.”
[10] “BBC - History - Historic Figures.”
[11] “Berthe Morisot | National Museum of Women in the Arts.”
[12] “Berthe Morisot Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”
[13] “Paul Gauguin Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”
[14] Gauguin, Nevermore.
[15] “Vincent van Gogh | Biography, Art, & Facts.”
[16] “(7) The Unexpected Math behind Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ - Natalya St. Clair - YouTube.”
[17] “Vincent van Gogh: The Paintings (Starry Night).”
[18] “John Singer Sargent: Portrait Artist, Impressionist Painter.”
[19] “Sargent, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.”
[20] “Georges Seurat Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”
[21] “Georges Seurat Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”
[22] “Gustav Klimt Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.”
Citations
“(7) The Unexpected Math behind Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ - Natalya St. Clair - YouTube.” Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMerSm2ToFY.
“BBC - History - Historic Figures: Claude Monet (1840-1926).” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/monet_claude.shtml.
“Berthe Morisot | National Museum of Women in the Arts.” Accessed May 20, 2018. https://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/berthe-morisot.
The Art Story. “Berthe Morisot Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-morisot-berthe.htm.
Khan Academy. “Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire.” Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/a/czanne-mont-sainte-victoire.
The Courtauld Institute of Art. “Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère.” Accessed May 20, 2018. https://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/collection/impressionism-post-impressionism/edouard-manet-a-bar-at-the-folies-bergere.
Gauguin, Nevermore. Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/post-impressionism/v/paul-gauguin-nevermore-1897.
The Art Story. “Georges Seurat Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-seurat-georges.htm.
The Art Story. “Gustav Klimt Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-klimt-gustav.htm.
The Art Story. “James Abbott McNeill Whistler Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-whistler-james-abbott-mcneill.htm.
“John Singer Sargent: Portrait Artist, Impressionist Painter.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-artists/john-singer-sargent.htm.
“Luncheon of the Boating Party.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/boating-party.
Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/realism/v/manet-a-bar-at-the-folies-bergre.
“Musée d’Orsay: Edgar Degas The Bellelli Family.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/the-bellelli-family-7168.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=841&cHash=1ca4377da1.
The Art Story. “Paul Gauguin Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.theartstory.org/artist-gauguin-paul.htm.
“Pierre Auguste Renoir - The Complete Works - Pierre-Auguste-Renoir.Org.” Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.pierre-auguste-renoir.org/.
Rabinow, Author: Rebecca. “Édouard Manet (1832–1883) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mane/hd_mane.htm.
Khan Academy. “Sargent, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.” Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/us-art-19c/civil-war-gilded-age/a/sargent-the-daughters-of-edward-darley-boit.
Encyclopedia Britannica. “Vincent van Gogh | Biography, Art, & Facts.” Accessed May 20, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vincent-van-Gogh.
“Vincent van Gogh: The Paintings (Starry Night).” Accessed May 20, 2018. http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0612.htm.
