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
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