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Autumn Effect at Argenteuil 1873 Claude Monet Oil on canvas
Autumn Effect at Argenteuil
Another impressionist landscape painting by Claude Monet is Autumn effect at Argenteuil , 1873, oil on canvas. The impressionist painting ignores traditional High Art themes, but owes much to Realism. The landscape , painted en plein air , attempts to represent the brightness of the natural light and the reflections of the landscape on the river seine in the small town of Argenteuil. The painting also directly represents what Monet was viewing , known as the optical truth and depicts the contemporary world around him . Much like realism and Manet’s paintings , Autumn effect at Argenteuil depicts the life and leisure of the new Paris and Parisians and the suburbs around this new city.
Impressionist paintings like Autumn Effects at Argenteuil are often small scale as they are painted outside ‘en plein air’ Intense, new colours and freely applied brushstrokes. These landscape compositions are also inspired by Japonism and Japanese wood block prints. Autumn effect at Argenteuil uses the same techniques as ‘impression sunrise’ , using quick sketchy brushstrokes , impasto brushwork and use of direct pigment, which give an overall ebauche appearance . The ebauche was an oil sketch , sometimes serving as an underpainting , that embodied the composition , the arrangement of colour, and tones painted in a broad , flat technique. In the foreground of the composition we can see the quick brushstrokes and build up of warm and cool hues to create the water and the reflection on its surface , the horizontal stippling also creates an effect of ripples in the water . We can also see that Monet has used intense contrasting complimentary colours , such as ultramarine and cobalt blue and vermillion , quoting “Colour owes it’s Hiroshige: ‘Red Maples at Tsuten bridge’ 1834 brightness to force of contrast”. In the painting we also see from the boat itself, not outside looking in. We are taking part in the leisure, rather than the detached observer: a crucial difference between Realism and Impressionism
Impression sunrise 1872
Autumn Effect at Argenteuil 1873
The ebauche ,sketchy appearance continues throughout the painting, especially in the warm tones trees which almost frame the scene. Here Monet has used new pigments , vermillion and chrome yellow , to create naturalistic tones. Stippled brush strokes create texture resembling the trees leaves and on the right hand side of the composition , the tree has visible scratch marks , where Monet has deliberately used the other end of his brush to create quick marks to add texture.
The reflection of the trees reflects onto the river seine at the Centre, giving a contrast between the worm and cool tones. Further into the background the colours merge and blur creating some atmospheric perspective . We can see the town of Argenteuil in the distance, its factories , some houses , iron works and a tall church.
Rouen Cathedral series 1892-94 Claude Monet
Rouen Cathedral series 1892-94 The Rouen cathedral series was painted in the 1890s by Claude Monet. This series of paintings depict the facade of Rouen cathedral in, Normandy , showing the different effects of light at different times od day and throughout the year . The impressionist studies show the changes in the facades appearance and are a direct response to what Monet was viewing. In total , Monet had created more than thirty Rouen Cathedral paintings , created between 1892 and 1893, and then reworked in 1894 in his studio To create the paintings Monet painted from a rented property across the road from the cathedral , allowing him to be up close with his subject on a daily basis , and able to clearly see the cathedral at different times of day . In the final series , twenty paintings were selected to be displayed to a Parisian art dealer’s gallery and be sold. The exhibition was visited by other impressionists artists , who praised Monet’s work.
Rouen Cathedral in the 1890's
Technique The depiction of changing light on the façade of the cathedral was a challenging task for Monet , as described in Michael Howard's Encyclopedia of Impressionism ;
‘As always, the pictures gave him intense difficulties, which threw him into despair. He had vivid nightmares of the cathedral in various colors – pink, blue and yellow – falling upon him… [Monet wrote:] ‘Things don’t advance very steadily, primarily because each day I discover something I hadn’t seen the day before… In the end, I am trying to do the impossible.’ (224) Monet used typical impressionist techniques to depict the series , using quick , sketchy brushstrokes and thick impasto paint , using highly pigmented colour . Unlike some of his other paintings , Monet painted layers upon layers of the thick pigmented oil paint , building up both rich colour , and texture , therefore building a façade in itself as the layers of paint were repeated.
Rouen Cathedral, Facade (Morning effect) Here Monet has depicted the façade early in the morning , as the sunlight hitting the cathedral is limited , hence the use of a cooler , monotone colour palette .
Rouen Cathedral, Full Sunlight
Rouen Cathedral, Facade Rouen Cathedral, Facade and (sunset), harmonie in gold the Tour d'Albane. Grey In Monet’s full sunlight , a range and blue Weather, of highly pigmented warm hues In this sunset depiction the effect of the Here in this gloomy study are used such as reds, yellows, sunset gives a strong sense of warmth , Monet has used the effects of orange and brown to depict a a highlighting the façade , using bright yellow darkness and bad weather on warm sensation as sunlight and orange tones. The use of greens and the façade. The emphasizes the façade and gives blues have also been used to create natural monochromatic colour palette natural shadows beneath the shadows that cast across the bottom of the seems cold and creates a entrance portal. façade, indicating this would have been completely contrasting painted possibly late afternoon / evening melancholy mood.
Bathers at Asnières 1884 Georges Seurat
Bathers at Asnières Bathers at Asnieres is a large scale oil on canvas painting by the neo impressionist painter Georges Seurat. The large painting shows a group of workmen enjoying leisure time on a riverbank of Asnières , industrial suburb north-west of Paris on the River Seine. The painting is the first of two monumental sized painting he has produced . Seurat applied to the jury of the Salon of 1884 to have the work exhibited there, but bathers at Asnieres was rejected. Although It was exhibited in the last impressionist exhibition of 1886 alongside ‘La Grande Jatte’
The composition shows figures, with their clothes piled on the riverbank with lush green grass and trees on either size of the river in the background . Two figures are bathing in the river seine at the center , whilst a boat sails across in the distance . The composition is painted using neo impressionist techniques such as complex brushstrokes and the application of vibrant colour to create a tranquil , leisure scene . Right ; Seurat’s La Grande Jatte, 1884-6
Colour and Brushwork Seurat uses a variety of techniques to suggest the heat of a summers day by the riverside . A warm glow surrounds the edges of the trees in the distance and gives a sunlit effect . The shimmering appearance of the composition , created by stippling/ pointillism reinforces the idea of extreme heat and possibly heatwaves . The use of new colors such as chrome yellow also allowed for an intense warmth. Seurat uses a Variety of brush strokes in ‘Bathers’; broad sweeping brush strokes (‘balaye’), Smooth paint in central figures , broken brushwork ‘Impressionist’ and some sections are repainted in the ‘Divisionism’ style in 1887.
This is a modern suburban scene , and the figures are not a specific class , although they would not be upper class . These younger men , are shop workers known as the ‘petit bourgeoisie ‘ or the working class . We can also see that there are no women or families in the composition. It is possible that the scene is set on a Monday as this would be the men’s free time when they are not working . The scene shows no fun , exiting relationships between people like other scenes of leisure , it shows society fragmented into individuals . This painting also shows how working in this era can cause isolation in the working class in a new modern world. Both paintings by Seurat depicts scenes of leisure alongside the river seine , shown on this map of the suburbs . The location of the bathers is opposite from la Grande Jatte
Influences Seurat was trained at the Academy des Beaux Arts between 1878-9, although he developed his own unique style of painting . Many of the figures seen in ‘ Bathers at Asnieres’ are copied or have influence from classical poses and classical prototypes such as Carracci’s Titan who blows a shell, this pose has been recreated by the figure wearing a red hat in the river who seems to be calling .
Carracci: ‘Titan blowing a conch Shell’, 1599 Seurat: ‘sketch for Bathers at Asnieres’, 1884,
Seurat also made many visits to Asnieres and the river seine , making ebauche oil sketches and preparatory drawings for his large paintings in a similar way to the earlier impressionist style. The monumentally large scale and importance of this post impressionist painting has heightened its status dramatically , to similar of that of History paintings .
Seurat Georges – Pierre Seurat (1859-1891) was a French painter and draughtsman associated with the post impressionist movement which came about at the end of the 19th century. Seurat’ s distinct style of working included his use of divisionism and colour theories along with pointillist to create new and exciting compositions , following on from the impressionists . Seurat felt that the ideas of colour and light in impressionist painting were too spontaneous . Seurat aimed to create representations of visual phenomena more solid, controlled and optically constructed. Studying other artists such as Ogden rood , the art critic Charles Blanc and the Mathematician and aesthetician Charles Henry gave Seurat the idea that representations of experiences could be reduced to impersonal, rational l systems that did not interfere with the artists originality . The new colour theories founded by Seurat were based upon the most up to date scientific ideas of the 19th century .
Luxe, Calme et VoluptĂŠ 1904 Henri Matisse
Luxe, Calme et VoluptĂŠ Luxe,calme et volupte , painted between 1905-5 is a medium scale oil on canvas landscape by Fauvist painter Henri Matisse and was created after a visit to St Tropez with Paul Signac The painting has references to the contemporary world and demonstrates free, expressive interpretation of the pointillist technique . Matisse has combined a landscape painting with the subject of a nude painting, and was interested in Arcadian imagery. There is subjective use of bold, statured colour . There is imaginative use of these intense colours and the large colour palette features mostly warm colours such as reds, oranges and yellows .
The composition features seven nude figures on a beach, grouped together towards the left of the composition . The nude figures forms have more of a decorative than descriptive function and are simplified , resembling modelled shapes more than human bodies
Fauve artists like Matisse also appreciated, but moved beyond, the decorative, rhythmic and geometric qualities of Cézanne. Influence can be seen here with simplification of figures in Cezanne's bathers. Matisse’s use of pointillism and colour is also influenced by Paul Signac’s ‘the Papal palace’
Paul Signac, The Papal Palace, Avignon, c.1900 –
Matisse showed both ‘Open Window’ and his portrait ‘Woman with the Hat’ along with this painting at the autumn salon. Critic Louis Vauxcelles describes the work with the quote "Donatello au milieu des fauves!" (Donatello among the wild beasts), referring to a Renaissance-type sculpture that shared the room with them.
Luxe, calme et volupté - luxury , peace and pleasure The title of the painting is derived from the repeated refrain of Charles Baudelaire’s poem ‘ L’Invitation au voyage ‘ from his collection Les Fleurs du Mal. This scene is Matisse’s interpretation of an ideal modern world of peace and tranquility .
“Furniture gleaming with the sheen of years would grace our bedroom; the rarest flowers, mingling their odours with vague whiffs of amber, the painted ceilings, the fathomless mirrors, the splendour of the East ... There, everything is order and beauty, luxury, calm and pleasure”. From L'Invitation au Voyage
Henri Matisse Henri Matisse (31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French artist, known for his use of bold colour and fluidity of forms . Matisse was a draughtsman , printmaker , sculptor and painter , and was associated with the fauvist movement in the early 20th century .Matisse is regarded, along with Picasso as one of the artists that define the revolutionary avant garde visual arts at the start of the 20th century. He studied the work of Manet and Cézanne and in 1899 bought a small version of his ‘Bathers’ . Shortly after , he became influenced by Seurat’s use of pointillism. Matisse made close relationships with many artists such as his closet follower , Paul Signac. Matisse held his first solo exhibition at an important French art dealers gallery in 1904 , although it was not a success . Matisse’s love of bright expressive colour became more evident after moving south in 1905 to work with Andre Derain . They began spending time along the French Riviera painting flat shapes and controlled lines with expression dominant over detail In 1905 , Matisse and a group of artists known as the ‘fauvists’ exhibited at the autumn salon. The paintings produced in this period expressed wild, discordant colour palettes without regards to the subjects natural colour.
View of Collioure AndrĂŠ Derain 1905 65 x 81 cm
View of Collioure View of Collioure, painted 1905 is an oil on canvas landscape by fauvist painter Andre Derain. The painting depicts a warm scene from the coastal town of Collioure , in the south of France . Derain has created a fauvist representation of the Mediterranean subject matter through his use of bold colour and avant garde brushwork techniques. In the composition we can see , from a high viewpoint , a sloping landscape with many houses land tall trees , followed by the see in the background . Here Derain has taken a more simplified, almost child like approach to represent the subject matter and focus more on the effects of colour and brushwork rather than a natural representation .
Spontaneous , child like arrangement of brush strokes and build up of warm
The composition of the painting features the use of warm , vibrant and saturated colour . The Discordant, stippling, directional brush strokes are spontaneously placed in a child like way across the canvas , with lots of white canvas showing. The Hot, dry and intense effect of the colours used also adds to the sense of heat in the Mediterranean scene, which is a typical fauvist concern. This painting is a prime example of the fauvist style and avant-garde ideas of depicting a scene using decorative, child-like brushwork , an intentionally naĂŻve treatment. Similar to the direction of impressionist painting , this landscape was painted Painted en plein air emphasising the freshness of nature . Although the fauvist landscapes can appear somewhat simplified and flat , there is use of recessional perspective, especially for houses placed at o angles to suggest depth in the scene.
Andre Derain Andre Derain born 10th June , 1880 was a French painter , artist and sculptor and a co founder of the Fauvist movement , along with Henri Matisse. Derain and Matisse were close friends and worked together in the summer of 1905 in Collioure , a Mediterranean village and settings for Derain's ‘View of collioure’ 1905 and Matisse’s ‘Open window Collioure’ also painted in 1905. Later that year the pair showed their works in the ‘salon d’Automne’in Paris , which brought criticism by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles . The bright , un natural colours and child like naïve treatment of the paintings sparked the critic to dub their works as Les Fauves or ”the wild beats”, which translates to ‘fauves ‘ in French which started the fauvist movement. In March 1906, an art dealer Ambroise Vollard asked Derain to visit London and produce a series of paintings of the city. Whilst in London Derain produced 30 paintings , 29 of which survived.
Above ; André Derain, 'Henri Matisse' portrait , 1905
Derain produced and presented a painting of London that was very radical and unlike anything previously painted of the city by any other artists such as Monet .The bold saturated colours were used in his compositions when painting multiple scenes of the Thames and London’s Tower bridge . The series of paintings by Derain have remained some of the most popular pieces of his work. So much so that art critic T.G Rosenthal quoted : "Not since Monet has anyone made London seem so fresh and yet remain quintessentially English”