Table Of ContentART REVOLUTIONS
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IMPRESSIONISM
Linda Bolton
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ART REVOLUTIONS
IMPRESSIONISM
Linda Bolton
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PETER BEDRICK BOOKS
NTi ContemporaryPublishing Croup
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This American edition published 2000 by Peter Bedrick Books,
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First published in Great Britain in 2000 by Belitha Press Limited. OH BR
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Copyright © 2000 by Belitha Press Limited B65
2000
Editor Susie Brooks
Designer Helen James
Picture Researcher Diana Morns
Educational Consultant Hester Collicutt
Consultants for US Edition Nathaniel Harris. Ruth Nason
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Picture Credits:
Frontcover: PierreAuguste Renoir. BoatingParty Lunch. 1881. Phillips AKG London. 16: Edouard Manet. The Balcony. 1869. Musee
Collection. Washington. Photo Edward Owen/Bridgeman Art Library. d'Orsay. Pans. Photo Erich Lessing/AKG London. I7t: Edouard
I: PierreAugusteRenoir. TheSwing. 1876. Museed'Orsay. Paris. Manet. Baratthe Folies-Bergere. 1882. Courtauld InstituteGalleries.
PhotoCiraudon/Bridgeman ArtLibrary. 4: Claude Monet. London. Photo BridgemanArt Library. 17b: Edouard Manet.
Impression. Sunrise. 1872. Musee Marmottan. Paris Photo Peter Argenteuil. Monet'sStudio Boat. 1874 Neue Pinakothek. Munich.
Willi/BndgemanArt Library. © DACS 2000. 5:J. M, W. Turner. Photo Bridgeman Art Library 18: Berthe Monsot. TheCradle. 1872.
Rain.Steam, andSpeed. 1844 NationalGallery. London. Photo Museed'Orsay. Pans. Photo PeterWilli/ BridgemanArt Library.
Erich Lessing/AKG London. 6: PierreAuguste Renoir. La Loge. 1874. 19: Berthe Monsot. In the Dining Room. 1886. National Galleryof
Courtauld InstituteGalleries. London. Photo Bridgeman Art Library. Art, Washington. Photo Bridgeman ArtLibrary. 20: Edgar Degas.
louard Manet. TheRue Mosnierwith Pavers. 1878. Private CafeConcert. 1876-77 Museedes BeauxArts. Lyons. Phoco
Collection. Photo Bridgeman Art Library. 7b: Claude Monet. Gare Giraudon/ Bridgeman Art Library. 2It: Edgar Degas. LEtoile. 1875-76.
Saint-Lazare. 1877. Museed'Orsay. Paris. Photo Bulloz/Bridgeman Museed'Orsay. Pans. Photo Erich Lessing/AKG London 21b: Edgar
Art Library. © DACS 2000 8: Claude Monet.Wild Poppies. 1873 Degas. Miss La La. 1879 National Gallery. London. Photo Bridgeman
Museed'Orsay. Paris. Photo PeterWilli/Bndgeman Art Library. Art Library. 22: MaryCassatt. Inthe Loge. 1882. National Galleryof
© DACS2000. 9t: Claude Monet. The Magpie. 1868-69 Musee Art. Washington. Photo Bridgeman Art Library, 23: MaryCassatt.
d'Orsay. Paris Photo PeterWilli/Bndgeman Art Library. rQ DACS TheCupofTea. 1879 Metropolitan Museum ofArt. Collectionof
2000 9b: Claude Monet. Rue Montorgueil. 1878. Museed'Orsay. JamesStillman. GiftofDr. ErnestG. Stillman. 1922. Photograph©
Pans PhotoBulloz/BridgemanArtLibrary. © DACS2000. 1998 Metropolitan MuseumofArt. 24: GustaveCaillebotte. Pans
10 PierreAuguste Renoir. Ball atthe Moulinde laGalette. 1876. in the Rain. 1877. Art InstituteofChicago. Photo Erich Lessing/AKG
Museed'Orsay. Paris PhotoGiraudon/BridgemanArtLibrary London. 25t: GustaveCaillebotte. Floorplaners. 1875 Musee
IIt: PierreAuguste Renoir. BoatingPartyLuncheon. 1881 Phillips d'Orsay. Paris. Photo Lauros-Giraudon/Bndgeman Art Library. 25b:
Collection. Washington. PhotoEdwardOwen/BridgemanArt Library. GustaveCaillebotte. Le PontdeI'Europe. 1876 Petit Palais. Geneva.
Ilb: PierreAuguste Renoir. TheSwing. 1876. Museed'Orsay, Pans Photo Bridgeman Art Library 26: VincentVan Gogh. Moulin dela
PhotoGiraudon/BridgemanArtLibrary. 12: Camille Pissarro. Galette. Montmartre. 1886 GlasgowArtGallery6 Museum Photo
EntrancetoVillageofVoisms. 1872 Museed'Orsay. Pans Photo Bridgeman ArtLibrary. 27:VincentVan Gogh. Restaurantde la
Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library I3t: Camille Pissarro. Boulevard Sirene. Asnieres. 1878. Museed'Orsay. Pans. Photo PeterWilli/
Montmartreat Night. 1897. National Gallery. London. Photo Bridgeman Art Library, 28t:James McNeill Whistler, Nocturnein
BridgemanArt Library 13b: Camille Pissarro. Coach at BlueandGold. 1865. TateGallery, London. Photo Erich Lessing/AKG
Louveciennes. 1870. Museed'Orsay. Paris Photo Bridgeman Art London. 28b: Paul Gauguin. RueCarcel Covered in Snow. 1883. Ny
Library 14 AlfredSisley, Canal atSt Martin. Pans. 1872 Musee CarlsbergGlyptothek. Copenhagen Photo Erich Lessing/AKG London
d'Orsay. Pans Photo Erich Lessing/AKG London. I5t Alfred Sisley. 29t: PaulCezanne. Tall Treesatthejasde Bouffan. 1883 Courtauld
RuedelaChaussee.Argenteuil. 1872 Museed'Orsay. Pans Photo InstituteGalleries. London Photo BridgemanArt Library.
Giraudon/BridgemanArt Library 15b: AlfredSisley. Barge During 29b: GeorgesSeurat. SundayAfternoon on the IslandofLaGrande
Floods. Port Marly. 1876. Museed'Orsay. Pans Photo Erich Lessmg/ -;84-86 Art InstituteofChicago. Photo BridgemanArt Library
CONTENTS
Impressionist Shocks
Claude Monet 8
Pierre Auguste Renoir 10
Camille Pissarro 12
Alfred Sisley 14
•
Edouard Manet 16
Berthe Morisot 18
Edgar Degas 20
Mary Cassatt 22 ^^^^
Gustave Caillebotte
Vincent Van Gogh 26
More Impressionism 28
Useful words are explained on page 30.
SHOCKS
IMPRESSIONIST
In 1874 a group of artists, now known as the Impressionists,
When
put on an exhibition of their paintings in Paris. the
public and critics saw them, some were angry and others
laughed. Leading Impressionists such as Monet, Renoir, and
Pissarro were hailed as great artists only after a long struggle.
The Impressionists took their subjects from the Their pictures were bright and atmospheric and
life of their own time, which meant painting dashingly painted. Nowadays they are immensely
city scenes and landscapes, showing people of popular and famous, but in 1874 they caused a
all classes strolling or enjoying themselves. scandal because they broke away from tradition.
Bright, modern works were
seldom allowed into the
official exhibition of French
art. known as the Salon.
The Salon showed what is
now called academic art -
large pictures of historical
and other "serious"
subjects, painted in rather
dark colors. Most people
accepted that this was how
good art should look.
Impressionist paintings
seemed to have the wrong
subjects and also to be
painted in the wrong way.
JMW. TURNER
Instead of working in their studios, the Impressionists
often painted outdoors (in French, plein-air), trying to Rain, Steam, and
capture momentary effects of light and atmosphere. The
Speed
painters had to work fast, using big brushstrokes and
dabs of pure color to build up figures without putting in
hard outlines or smoothing down the surface. The 1844. oil paint on canvas
technique, known as broken brushwork, created a lively
atmosphere. A recent invention, tubes of ready-made Over thirty years before the
paint, made it easier to work on the move. Impressionists, the British artist
Turner was painting the
changing effects of nature in
CLAUDE MONET his own style. The picture
above shows a steam train
Impression, Sunrise roaring through the rain and
mist. Turner's work was seen
1872, oil paint on canvas by Monet and Pissarro when
they were staying in London,
This painting gave the new art movement its name. and it may have influenced
At the 1874 exhibition, the art critic Louis Leroy noticec their work. They had fled to
the word "impression" in the title of Monet's painting England for a while during
and wrote, mockingly, that all the artists on show were the Franco-Prussian War of
impressionists. He meant that their work was sketchy 1870-71, in which France was
and unfinished. But from then on, the artists defiantly disastrously defeated. The war
used the word to describe themselves. affected all the Impressionists.
The 1874 Impressionist exhibition took place houses were knocked down to build splendid,
in Paris, and seven more Impressionist wide, tree-lined boulevards and modern places of
exhibitions were held there between 1876 and work and entertainment. The fashionable new
1886. The city was changing fast during this city was alive with cafes and theaters. The cafes
period. Until 1853. most of Paris had consisted were important as places where writers and
of narrow old streets without modern amenities. artists - including the Impressionists - met and
Then the Emperor Napoleon III put Baron formed groups to launch new ideas. All this
Haussmann in charge. Under Haussmann. old helped make Paris a great art center.
PIERRE
AUGUSTE
RENOIR
La Loge
1874. oil paint on canvas
"La loge" is French, meaning
"the box." Boxes are the
grandest places to sit in a
theater, and the couple here are
beautifully dressed. Renoir did
not paint them in stiff poses as
if for a portrait, but acting
naturally. The man uses his
opera glasses to survey the
audience, while the woman is
thoughtfully aware that people
are staring at her. This is one
of the seven works shown by
Renoir at the 1874 exhibition.
EDOUARD MANET
The Rue Mosnier
with Pavers
1878, oil paint on canvas
This is a scene that Manet saw from his
studio window. The painting records
everyday events. Carriages pass in the
street and pavers work on the road
surface, their forms and movements
indicated by a few bold brushstrokes.
Railroad stations
were symbols of
the modern age
of steam. Monet
chose the Gare
Saint-Lazare in Paris
as the subject for a
series of paintings.
The station master
was so flattered
that he ordered
CLAUDE MONET
a train driver to
release a puff of engine steam, especially for
The Gare Saint-Lazare Monet to paint. Monet generally chose scene's
like this one, in which atmospheric conditions
1877, oil paint on canvas made objects appear to blend into one another.
MONET
CLAUDE
1840-1926
Mhonet was one of the leading Impressionists, Monet moved back to Normandy later in his life.
e grew up in Normandy, where he was Wherever he lived, he painted the world around
encouraged to paint outside by the artist Eugene him, often recording the same scene in different
Boudin. When Monet moved to Paris to study lights and colors. As he grew old, his favorite
art. he persuaded others to work in the open air. subject became his water garden at Giverny.
Wild Poppies
1873, oil paint on canvas
As a young artist, Monet
did not have much money.
Paris was an expensive city,
so he moved to Argenteuil,
on the outskirts, to avoid
high rents and find new
subjects to paint. Fellow
Impressionists Renoir,
Sisley, Pissarro, and Manet <r?
often joined him there.
Here Monet has painted his
wife Camille and their son v ,'V
Jean, walking in a field of
poppies. He aimed to capture
COMBINING COLORS
the scene as it looked at one
moment. The colors are warm Colors that are opposite each other on
and bright - we can almost this wheel are called complementaries.
feel the heat of the sun Together they combine red, yellow,
shining through the drifting and blue. For example, purple (red plus
clouds and hear the breeze blue) is the complementary of yellow.
whispering in the long grass. The Impressionists combined colors in
ways that made their pictures glow.
8
