Imagine I am the director of a new museum that was dedicated to 19th century art. I am in the process of building up a French Impressionism collection and have to choose between Morisot’s Summer’s Day or Renior’s Bathers. As a director you want to choose the piece that best embodies the style and intent of French Impressionism. To come to a decision I would first try to understand what French Impressionism is all about and then see how the two pieces reflect that theme. I would end up picking the painting that best represents Impressionism and will help the people that come to the museum understand the concept and ideals behind it.
French Impressionism is a major movement that took place between 1867 and 1886 that affected paintings and moved on to music. These impressionist artists maintained a certain approach and technique that usually depicted upper middle class during their leisure time. Many artists specialized in paintings of the countryside but the subjects were usually rich city folk on a holiday. The impressionist works were usually rejected from the Salon so a group of 30 impressionist artists exhibited together in Paris. Two prominent artists were Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Berthe Moris
Summer’s Day is a perfect example of Morisot pushing the envelope. This piece is a depiction of a young woman riding in a ferry in a large lake. You can see that the brush strokes were very loose and painterly. If you were to look at just a small section up close you would probably have no idea what it was of. Only when you look at the whole picture from a distance you can make out the picture. The edges are difficult to make out and everything seems to be blurred together. The facial expression of the young women can be made out but it is more implied then actually defined. The water and the ducks can only be made out through the use of reflection and color. The painting was done with oil on canvas. The color is natural and the overall image seems to be in a natural setting. The total effect looks like a blurred portrait that takes the emphasis away from the individual and expects you to enjoy the overall setting and atmosphere that the woman is enjoying. It appears to be a beautiful day and you are just immersed in the beauty of nature and the relaxation that it brings.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir started his career as an impressionist and did works that took snapshots of real life. His paintings were usually very colorful and had a lot of life to them. He is best known for his subjects which included children, flowers, scenery and beautiful women. His goal was to create pretty paintings because “there are enough unpleasant things in the world”- Renoir. Through the late 1880’s his work drew less and less from Impressionism. He switched from cotemporary themes to nudes which are more timeless. His style became simpler but grander. The women he would depict became more mature and ample.
Impressionism was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient ef
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