Wednesday, 23 January 2013

Honours Workshop Diary 11 (First of Second Semester) - Art History Research

To further guide and develop the honours project I have chosen to do research into different art movements to learn about these artists' aesthetic views and key craftsmanship skills to achieve some of the trademark features that make their artworks stand out. Particularly Impressionism and Tonalism have captured my eye and often have something special in their paintings in my view. 

Impressionism

Summary
To start off I will produce a short overview by defining impressionism and describing the characteristics of impressionist painting. Afterwards I will explain in more detail which aspects of impressionism I would like to consider incorporating into my own artistic style.
Finally I will showcase some of my favourite artworks from the impressionist art movement and explain what makes them so aesthetically appealing to me. The choice of artwork is based on personal opinions and experiences.

Impressionism
The art movement was formed in Paris by a group of artists during the 19th century and gained prominence in the 1870s and 1880s despite the harsh opposition of the conventional art community in France.

Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), common and ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles. 

Timeline: Lives of the Impressionists

Aesthetic Vision
The key aspect I want to take away from this art style and incorporate into my own art is the ability to capture a scene in its accurate mood and atmosphere. The ability to capture actions and dynamics is one main point that can only be achieved through the observation of details and lots of practice. The accurate depiction of -in some cases dramatic- lighting in impressionist painting is very important. It emphasises the mood in paintings and can be used as a compositional element to stage and guide the viewer’s attention. Furthermore it will lead to a better and faster painting process by setting the correct mood from the start.
Impressionism is about focusing on the core mood, atmosphere and emotions of a scene and then conveying them through the painting to the viewer. This is not an easy challenge and requires attention to detail, particularly in the portrayal of expressions and lighting.

Inspirational Impressionists’ Artwork
I chose the following images to reinforce my statements of the paragraph on aesthetic vision. A short description beneath the paintings will describe the main points I find inspiring and worth incorporating into my art style.

Claude Monet
 Reading (portrait of Edma Morisot)
            Impression Sunrise                                                            Haystacks, (Sunset)

         Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son                             Water Lilies



Edgar Degas
The French painter Edgar Degas is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. He was a superb draftsman, and particularly masterful in depicting movement, as can be seen in his renditions of dancers, racecourse subjects and female nudes. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.

                            Madame Camus with a Fan                                           After the Bath
                        The Green Dancer                                         Waiting
Before the Race
Dancers in Pink
Dancers Climbing the Stairs                                                                        Dancers at the Barre

Edouard Manet
 Race in Longchamp
At the Café
Manet was the quintessential "Painter of Modern Life," a phrase coined by art critic and poet Charles Baudelaire. In 1878-79, he painted a number of scenes set in the Cabaret de Reichshoffen on the Boulevard Rochechouart, where women on the fringes of society freely intermingled with well-heeled gentlemen. Here, Manet captures the kaleidoscopic pleasures of Parisian nightlife. The figures are crowded into the compact space of the canvas, each one seemingly oblivious of the others. When exhibited at La Vie Moderne gallery in 1880, this work was praised by some for its unflinching realism and criticized by others for its apparent crudeness.
          A Philosopher (Beggar with Oysters)                      The Execution of Emperor Maximilian

No comments:

Post a Comment