Changes in Art Styles - Essay Example

Changes in Art Styles Customer Inserts His/Her Name Customer Inserts Grade Course Customer Inserts Tutor’s Name April 20, 2009. Table of Contents 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………… 2. Impressionism……………………………………..……………………………………….. 3. Neo-Impressionism...…………………………………………………………………......... 4. Post-Impressionism………………………………………………………………………… 5. Artists………………………………………………………………………………………. a) Claude Monet b) Édouard Manet c) Auguste Renoir d) Georges Seurat e) Paul Cézanne Changes in Art Style Introduction Landscape art of the nineteenth century in Europe was described in various styles through the changes in France. These changes were responsible for the influence in landscape art in Europe but also in the United States. Ever since the late sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries sketching or drawing nature from life was a recognized tactic. However, this went on to become a significant component of any artiste’s education at the time of the end of eighteenth and beginning of nineteenth century. Industrial Revolution took place after the middle of the 19th century and different other kinds and movements of art came up. This lead to changes in art styles and these were visible in the paintings that were produced by the artists of those times. Impressionism This was a movement in painting and it initiated in France during the last part of the 19th century. During that time the impressionist painters were thought to be extremists due to the fact that they did not follow several of the rules of painting that had been established by the previous people. They discovered that several of the themes of painting are present around them instead of in the past. Previous painters had painted a typical beauty; the impressionist painters attempted at depicting the things that they could see at a particular time, and they captured an original sight which many did not consider to be beautiful. These painters worked in natural surroundings instead of inside which allowed them to see the nature properly and copy it down in their paintings (Gofen, 2003). Neo-Impressionism Neo-Impressionism is the word that was used for referring to an avant-garde art movement which thrived chiefly in France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (Argüelles, 1975).. The works of Georges Seurat were responsible for leading the painters of the Neo-Impressionist group, and they abandoned the haphazard artlessness of Impressionism to go for a calculated painting method established in science and the optical studies. The thesis of Charles Henry, Eugène Chevreul, Odgen Rood and others on colour theory were responsible for encouraging the Neo-Impressionists, who started believing that distinct strokes of mingled colour resulted in a much more vibrant colour when seen by the observer. This was not to be attained by the traditional mixing of colours on the palette. Mélange optique, optical mixture, was the name for this scrupulous paint treatment which, according to the artists, accomplished a lively shine of beam on the canvas. This division of paint by means of discrete strokes of colour started to be called Divisionism, and the appliance of scrupulous dots of paint was termed as pointillism (Bachus, 2006). Post-Impressionism Post impressionism was an art movement taking place in France and it symbolized an expansion of Impressions plus a denial of that fashion’s intrinsic limitations. Impressionism was founded on the object taking down of nature regarding the deserter influence of colour and light. Post-Impressionists discarded this restrictive objective and rather favoured a greater determined expression, and at the same admitted their obligation towards the pure and vivid colours of Impressionism (Gunderson, 2008), its liberty from conventional subject themes, and its strategies of describing types with short brushworks of out of order colour. It was the works of such painters that comprised of the foundation for many modern day styles and also for the early twentieth century modernization. Generally Post Impressionism brought the path away from a naturalistic style and approached the two significant movements that took place in the beginning of the 20th century. These were Cubism and Fauvism. Artists There were various artists associated with the changing movements of art. Each made a contribution to the new kind of art that prevailed. The works of five of them are discussed below. Claude Monet Monet’s impressionist works are minor, casual in make-up, unreservedly and impulsively painted, and they show daily scenes created in bright colours. Monet’s “The Beach at Trouville” portrayed nature in continuous motion, and there were individuals hanging on to umbrella, and clouds and garments were being blown due to the wind. Using this style Monet laboured on just the vital elements and captured a single feature at one time because there was no time for particularizing before the light altered. Monet did not go into descriptions but instead worked in a shortened, abrupt style. Monet’s use of paint was appropriate to these kinds of works because he smeared paint rapidly, and had clear and overt brushwork. This allowed for motion in his painting. During the 1870s Monet’s colour became vivid and he reduced his dependence on differences of dark and light tints that suggested light and shade. Like in the scenes with open bright Monet made use of radiant blues to portray shadows in grass and trees, along with expressing the fall of daylight by dealing with the vegetation in grades of colour, ranging from blue through different gradations of green to light yellow greens and yellows in the focus. The “Impression Sunrise” is the painting due to which the term “Impressionism” was first coined (Michelin, 2009). This piece of work is a brashly and quickly completed canvas, with the theme of the work being light and it is symbolized by colour. Monet did not attend much to the physical object; no organization of constitution which made individuals’ as the main theme was present. In another painting – “Snow Effect at Vetheuill” – Monet broke the picture into blobs of paint. He painted the tree in several colours with reflection, and that allowed the item to become mixed up with colour. Monet applied bits of paint and let the view to merge the colours which formed expressive themes. The resultant colour turned out to be vivid and deep with motion. Édouard Manet Manet’s extensive effect on French painting plus the common advance of modern art was because of him depicting daily theme substance, him using broad plain colour regions, and a clear précis brush tactic. Through these tactics Manet was able to even out the painting surface, and this allowed it to become more like an illusion. Manet’s early masterpieces differed a lot in the theme and imaginative style, but usually they displayed Manet’s attraction in the modern setting. However, they were all disregarded or refused recognition by the general art public. For example, “The Absinthe Drinker” was disapproved as it had no element of sentimentality in the subject’s unpleasant situation. Contemporaneous subjects were not considered unthinkable but the way that Manet portrayed the painting was condemned. It was the un-academic approach of the painting that was not thought to be proper by the public. The critics usually had a comment on the unconventional colouring of the paintings, the dull viewpoint plus by the differences between custom and modernism which was mostly present in his works. If “The Absinthe Drinker” is put side by side with Couture’s “Rome in her Decline” – the latter being an Academic history work – Manet’s work would beyond doubt be considered a shame. “Absinthe” is a great deal more explicit scene; it is a depiction of a drunken man. It portrayed the figure from open scrutiny, in a plain and sketch-like manner. Conversely, the history painting depicted the idea in a daring and classic style; it is big in scale, created in a Renaissance layout, and very much refined. Manet’s works were natural looking and without any organization. In the paintings with a historic subject there was no heroic performance or order; it was a simple recording of an actuality. He was even indicted as unfeeling because of his cold paintings (Lanier, 2004). Auguste Renoir Renoir had started to delve into the way light and air could affect the painting and how he could represent them using bits of paints. By the time the first exhibition was held he had completely got the grasp of impressionist ways. He worked in this manner as long as 1882. “The Swing” was created in 1876 and it had the speckled light, mellow forms, the youthful elegance, and the air of courtship (Wintle, 2002): all this was characteristic of his works of this era. His paintings contain parts of impressionism’s fleeting exposure of the theme and a lot more of pure impressionism’s mist of light merged with atmosphere. However, Renoir did not willingly give way to this development of momentary effects and not soon after he got completely disappointed with them. Majority of his figures were taken up with relaxation. For example, Degas in “Foyer de la Danse” where Renoir felt that there was requirement of traditional steadiness in the make-ups. This piece of work went into the collection of paintings of the earlier time just about as if exclusive of his wish. Renoir’s figures always had a proper individuality within the throbbing glow that surrounded them. In 1870s, by the time Renoir was forty years old, he had gained a lot of success. However, he was not satisfied with the type of work he had been doing. He was willing to do away with the gentle trace of impressionism even when the first collectors had started getting appealed by it. By 1882 he abandoned his impressionist period. Georges Seurat Georges Seurat was the principal producer and outstanding proponent of Neo-Impressionism (Galenson, 2005). He was stricken by the gist of light and colour in Impressionist painting but he wished to tackle those characteristics in a further systematic and precise manner, instead of impulsively and mechanically, like the Impressionist painters had been doing. Seurat did not mix colours on his palette but instead he made use of small pats or spots of pure colour, and placed them vigilantly on the canvas such that they were in relation to each other and that resulted in a work where the dots unified together and formed a picture. The concept behind this was that it resulted in more vivacious colour effects than when the paints had been mixed on the palette beforehand (Kleiner, 2008). Seurat’s own works have particular energetic colour effects. However, neither of his close followers were able to reach up to his level; their works had more of artificialness as compared to his. Seurat’s most important student was Paul Signac. His work had an influence on Henri Matisse in the initial phase of his career which allowed for the inspiration for fauvism. Pointillism is the term used for referring to the method of using small dots of paints. However, Seurat preferably called it Divisionism. The latter term is made use of to give a name to the philosophy behind his paintings, while pointillism is used for referring to the technique of applying the colours. However, these two words are at times used similarly. Paul Cézanne "I want to make of Impressionism something solid and lasting like the art in the museums." - Paul Cézanne (McPhee, 2006). Paul Cezanne was less scientific in his style of working. He placed his paints in bits of colour which divided his canvas into several surfaces. He used vivid colours with a regular puzzling idea of angle. Not much gist of depth is present and the subjects of his paintings are more of still-lifes. Each of this puts in a gist of strain to the work and that avoids the still life from appearing to be static. Cezanne defied the rules of angle and it influenced Picasso to a great deal (Levenson, 1999). Cezanne brings about the view that art is not simply reproducing the scenes that one views. Contemporary artists have to be recreating the world so as to fit in the requirements of the art. Cezanne theorized about the way that art should be and then applied that theory in his work which allowed for him to describe it and the people to understand it. According to Cezanne’s thinking there was a concealed direction in nature which had to be discovered in modern, unclear space; thus, he left the conventional illusionist differences of centre and backdrop. Cezanne’s works are abstract but it is possible to recognize the themes in them. Cubism followed because of Cezanne’s radical theories. References Argüelles, J. (1975). The Transformative Vision: Reflections on the Nature and History of Human Expression. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications. Bachus, N. (2006). Beyond the Romantic Spirit, Book 1 (The Spirit Series). Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing. Galenson, D. W. (2005). Old Masters and Young Geniuses: The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity. New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press. Gofen, E. (2003). France (Cultures of the World). 2nd ed. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Children's Books. Gunderson, J. (2008). Impressionism (Movements in Art). Surrey: Creative Education. Kleiner, F. (2008). Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History: v. 2 [IMPORT]. Wadsworth. Lanier, D. (2004). Absinthe--The Cocaine of the Nineteenth Century: A History of the Hallucinogenic Drug and Its Effect on Artists and Writers in Europe and the United States. Jefferson NC: McFarland. Levenson, M. (1999). The Cambridge Companion to Modernism (Cambridge Companions to Literature). UK: Cambridge University Press. McPhee, L. (2006). A Journey into Matisse's South of France (ArtPlace series). Berkeley, CA: Roaring Forties Press. Michelin. (2009). Michelin The Green Guide Paris (Michelin Green Guide: Paris English Edition). 6th ed. Canada: Michelin Travel Publications. Wintle, J. (2002). Makers of Nineteenth Century Culture (Makers of Culture, Volume 2). US: Routledge. Read More