Art History - Russian Impressionism - Essay Example

Art History: Russian Impressionism The development of the Russian art in the nineteenth century and twentieth century was in tandem with the Europe’s leading cultural movements. It is imperative to point out that the artists in Russia traversed widely, observed, read, and reflected on number issues in the European art’s context. Russian impressionism was one of the significant eighteenth century art movements because it was a representative of natural Russian culture as well as the culture of other nations. The Russian impressionism had significant features just like other movements as Futurism, Expressionism and Romanticism. It is important to note that very little is studied in Russia about the Russian Impressionism. The same case applies in other countries abroad. In the early twentieth century and the in the last third of the nineteenth century, a period of Impressionism was witnessed in a number of Western countries just like other forms of art movements like Expressionism and Classicism. Various versions of the Impressionism movement existed in different countries as each country came up with its own version. The Impressionism movement traversed worldwide as it pervaded all forms of music, theatre, literature and fine art influencing world philosophies and the vision of people of the world (Kruglov and Lenyashin 104). It is significant to note that the Impressionism movement was against academism. This was informed by the belief by the Impressionists who affirmed that the everyday reality characterized by aesthetic value and beauty that was rich in colors and its continued change of state was more significant than academism (Nov 82). The impressionist artists rejected social criticism, plot and narrative. The impressionist artists captured all events in their observant and refined eyes. Their observant and refined eyes took note of anything in the society that was characteristic and unique in the flow of life that was uninterrupted in the transient moments. The Impressionist artists developed their own system of painting that was unique. They carried out their painting in the open air, where they broke down tones that were complicated in nature into bright, pure and light colors, colored shadows and rich reflections (German 40). The boundaries that existed between the study and the picture were broken down by the Impressionist artists’ paintings. The Impressionist artists ensured that picture created, were no longer the preparatory stage for the study. The Russian impressionism brought about the en plein air Canvas painting. The paintings had significant effect on the viewers because of the energetic and quick paint application on the canvases, and the evoking of impression of the unfinished type of the work by the resulting layers (Kruglov and Lenyashin 105). The painted image formation had a significant effect on the eyes of the viewer. It is also significant to note that the canvases used by the Impressionist artists were constructed in a spatial structure that were normally supplemented by the asymmetric, chance, nature and the unbalanced nature in which the compositions were made, the intricate and unexpected angles and cutting forms that were audacious (Nov 84). It is significant to point out the masterpieces by the Impressionists that enriched the culture of Russia’s golden treasury. These included the Girl with Peaches by Valentin Serov and the Sun’s Girl Illuminated, the portraits by Konstantin Korovin, still-lifes and landscapes, Birch Grove and March by Isaac Levitan. The Russian masterpieces also included the Ceremonial Sitting of the State Council group portrait by Ilya Repins tudies, February Azure painting by Igor Grabar, and Rose Bush by the impressionist, Mikhail Larionov (Kruglov and Lenyashin 98). The beauty of Russia was extolled by a number of generations of both not famous and famous impressionist artists. These impressionist arts had immense contribution to Impressionism in Russia, which was portrayed to be unique. Traces of worldview in terms of Impressionism were evident in the 1820s and 1830s Russian art. This was evident in the early landscape paintings by Mikhail Lebedev, Alexander Ivanov and Silvestr Schedrin. In the 1850s and 1860s, various artists like Alexei Bogolyubov, Valery Jacoby, Fyodor Vasilyev, and Nikolai Ge expressed interest on the impacts the saturated air and light had on the environment of the piece of art (Kruglov and Lenyashin 106). It is important to note that the 1870s early exhibitions that was carried out in Paris by the French Impressionists attracted the participation of Russian Impressionists like Alexander Beggrov, Konstantin Makovsky, Alexei Bogolyubov, Polenov and, Ilya Repin, Vasily. Each of the Russian artists that attended the 1870s French impressionists’ exhibition conceptualized the discoveries made by the French Impressionists in different ways. Russian impressionist artists like Alexander Beggrov and Alexei Bogolyubov appreciated the moderate Impressionism discovered by Eugène Boudin. The exhibited Impressionism art by French Impressionist known as Édouard Manet and his art Lady Leaning against a Chair, won the admiration of the Russian Impressionist artist Ilya Repin. Ilya Repin’s impressionism works were influenced by the discovery the Lady Leaning against a Chair by Édouard Manet. Ilya Repin having been influenced by the Lady Leaning against a Chair by Édouard Manet painted On a Turf Bench upon his return to Russia (Kruglov and Lenyashin 108). The early Russian impressionism was characterized by immense interest in the study-like and poetic state of nature technique. This technique was evident in the impressionism paintings permeation with air and light. It is imperative to note that the 1870s modification in the Russian’s Impressionism paintings made it bear multi-component. The 1870s was significant in the history of the Russian Impressionism as it marked the Russian Impressionism movement’s first decade. The form of study adopted by the Russian impressionism artists involved adherence to intimate and lyrical study forms. Russian impressionists, just as their counterparts in Germany and the Scandinavia, did not criticize traditions that were in existence, nor did they attempt to overthrow the existing traditions (Nov 102). The realist paintings by Vasily Surikov, Ilya Repin, and Vasily Polenov were enriched by the devices principles of impressionism. It is important to acknowledge the contributions made by Vasily Polenov in the Russian art given his position at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture as a teacher. He used his position as a teacher to speed up the Impressionism movement in Russia (Kruglov and Lenyashin 108). Other artists that helped accelerate Impressionism in Russia in the second half of 1880s were the paintings made by, Konstantin Korovin, Valentin Serov, Ilya Ostroukhov, Isaac Levitan, and Jan Ciaglińskj. The impressionist paintings made in the 1880s by young artists were studies full of spontaneity and life because of the complicated psychological and rejected analysis characteristics of their portraits. The 1880s features of the Russian impressionism arts focused on the life’s lyrical interpretations in the contemporary lives then. Study-like energetic forms, fragmented, and dynamic in terms of their composition, characterized the paintings. The paintings in this period were mixed on the palette, contrary to the paintings done by the French Impressionists. The Russian impressionism arts were similar to the impressionism in Germany and Scandinavia, and different to the French Impressionist paintings where the paintings had blue-violet shadows and spectrally pure (Nov 112). The Russian impressionism took a new twist in the 1890s when Russia searched for its national line. The search for the national line in Russia was informed by the interest in the traditional tones of ochre and the Russian countryside. The Russian paintings in the mid-1890s were enriched with wonderful paintings on silver stones. Valentin Serov and Konstantin Korovin created these paintings on silver stones. The spread of the Art Nouveau in Russia was reflected by the acquired popularity by a number of paintings, for instance, the incorporation of the French impressionism techniques in paintings, which was adopted by the Russian impressionist artist, Victor Borisov-Musatov (Kruglov and Lenyashin 110). The epitome of Russian impressionism was witnessed in the 1990s. The 1990s saw the formation of the Union of Russian Artists, which was a representation of all art societies and art groups exhibitions. Some of the impressionism portraits of this period were the portraits of Boris Kustodiev , Osip Braz, Ilya Repin, Leonid Pasternak, Sergei Malyutin, and Mikhail Shemyakin. It important to note that these portraits were recorded for posterity to represent the spontaneity of generations of that age, the musicians, artist, and government officials (German 92). The 1900s Russian Impressionism represented childhood images, paintings of mother’s everyday life represented in scenes of poetry. The Impressionist works during this period also depicted the social life in the society like the happy family life. The impressionists of the 1900s rediscovered the Russian nature. The winters were depicted in the impressionists’ works using air and light, the sun’s sparkling frosts, endless skies, poetic springs, boundless expanses, and quiet birch groves (Nov 65). The impressionist paintings of the Mother Nature in the 1900s were filled with air and light of untiringly painting studies. It is imperative note that the impressionist artists of this period shifted their attention to the Russian national traditions’ custodians, noisy bazaars, and the provinces, quaint churches, with their ancient towns, exotic local lifestyle, and motley signboards The Russian impressionist paintings in the mid-1900s underwent a number of transformations. Light paints supplanted the favorite silver stones and ochre adored at the turn of the century in a gradual manner. It is also imperative to note that the mid-1900s saw the reduction in the size of the brushstroke, and its agility was increased. The brightness of the shadows on the paintings were also increased. The young artists identified with this period included Natalia Goncharova, David Burliuk, and Mikhail Larionov. These impressionist artists used Impressionism as a means towards challenging routinism, and a movement aimed at establishing avant-garde art (German 154). It is important to note that in the entire 1910s, the experiments by Neoclassical and avant-garde artists overshadowed the popular interest of the Russian impressionism. A new crop of artists came up in the 1910s. These included Abram Manevich, Nicolai Fechin, Arnold Lakhovsky, Alexander Gerasimov, and Mikhail Yakovlev, who in these years swelled up the ranks of impressionism (Kruglov and Lenyashin 104). This pressure from the new crop of artists prompted creation of a number of creative outstanding works by the artists Alexander Yakovlev, Nikolai Feshin, Ilya Repin, Konstantin Pervukhin, Konstantin Korovin, Leonard Turzhansky, Alexander Gerasimov, and Arkady Rylov using the prevailing method. It is imperative to point that the Russian Impressionism did not have a clear-cut in terms of te time barriers as it was in the French Impressionism. This led to the Russian Impressionism undergoing a complex and long evolution. In turn, the Russian impressionism continued to exist alongside other movements, which it influenced as it interacted with them, thus contributing to their enrichment using its own devices. Due to this parallel existence alongside other movements, the Russian artists painted works that had the features of Art Nouveau, Cézanneism, symbolism, and Fauvism (Nov 82). The Russian impressionism works that were produced between 1880s and 1910s therefore, produced new specific tones in each decade. It is also important to conclude by stating that the Impressionist works in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which were two Russian capitals, were distinctly different because of the difference in the schools of Impressionism. Works Cited Top of Form Bottom of Form Top of Form Bottom of Form German, Mikhail. Russian Impressionists and Postimpressionists. Bournemouth, England: Parkstone, 1998. Print. Kruglov, Vladimir, and Vladimir Lenyashin. Russian Impressionism: Paintings, 1870-1970. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000. Print. Nov, Dmitrii. Russian Art: From Neoclassicism to the Avant Garde, 1800-1917: Painting – Sculpture-Architecture. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1990. Print. Read More