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ART HISTORY 4450 Impressionism: Manet & Whistler
Édouard Manet (1832‐83) •
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biography: born into ranks of Parisian bourgeoisie – mother daughter of diplomat and goddaughter of the Swedish crown prince – father high‐ranking Minister of Justice – uncle (maternal) encouraged him to pursue painting; often took M to Louvre training: – 1845: M enrolls in drawing course; meets Proust (future Minister of Fine Arts and subsequent life‐long friend) – 1850: studio of Thomas Couture credo: “Painter of modern life” (Baudelaire) exhibition history: believed success only obtained by recognition @ Salon – often rejected; exhibited @ Salon des Refusés (1863) – never exhibited w/ Impressionists • fully supported their aims • worked closely w/ Monet artistic sources: “universalist” – Renaissance (Florentine & Venetian) – Baroque • Velazquez (SP Baroque) • Dutch still lifes – Japanisme
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Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass (1863)
Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass
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detail: still‐life – brushwork: painterly • forms est. by building up paint, rather than through contour – textures: variety • fruit • leaves • wicker • blanket – light/shadow: • consistent source • creates sense of volume
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MANET’s Impressionist Luncheon on the Grass (1863) vs. GIORGIONE’s Venetian Renaissance Pastoral Symphony (c. 1510)
MANET’s Impressionist Luncheon on the Grass (1863) vs. detail from RAPHAEL’s High Italian Renaissance The Judgment of Paris (c. 1520)
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Manet’s Olympia (1863)
(Left) Titian’s Venetian Ren. Venus of Urbino (c. 1535) vs. (right) Manet’s Impressionist Olympia (1863)
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(Left) INGRES’ Neo‐Classical Grand Odalisque (1814) vs. (right) MANET’s Olympia (1863)
(Left) CABANEL’s The Birth of Venus (1863) vs. (right) MANET’s Olympia (1863)
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Manet •
Portrait of Emil Zola (1868) –
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biography: 1840-1902 • raised in south of FR • childhood friend of Paul Cezanne significance: founder of Naturalist movement in literature motto: "I am little concerned with beauty or perfection. I don't care for the great centuries. All I care about is life, struggle, intensity. I am at ease in my generation” My Hates (1866) politics: did not hide antipathy toward French Emperor Napoleon III themes: every-day life • suffering of Parisian working-class • prostitution • strikers (mining industry) defender of Manet: • M rejected by 1866 Salon • full biography & critical study (1867)
Manet’s The Railway Station (1872)
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Details from Manet’s The Railway
(Left) MANET’s Olympia (1863) vs. (right) MANET’s Lady with Fans (1873)
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Manet’s Bar at the Folies‐Bergère (1882)
Details from Manet’s Bar at the Folies‐Bergere
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James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834‐1903) •
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biography: American‐born, British‐based artist – attended West Point (for only two months) – leaves for Paris, never to return to USA training: Paris (c. 1855) – rents studio in Latin Quarter; adopts life of bohemian artist – traditional art methods • Ecole Impériale • atelier of Charles Gabriel Gleyre • self‐study (copying at Louvre) – friendship w/ Henri Fantin‐Latour • introduced to circle of Courbet – including Manet & Baudelaire career: credo "art for art's sake” – 1858‐60: London – 1861‐63: Paris – 1864‐65: London – 1866: visits Chile for political reasons – 1867‐78: London – 1879: Venice
WHISTLER’s Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen (1864)
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(Left) WHISTLER’s Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother known as “Whistler's Mother” (1871) vs. (right) WHISTLER’s Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen
Whistler •
The Princess (c. 1875) –
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site: The Peacock Room • dining room in London home of Frederick R. Leyland (wealthy ship owner from Liverpool, England) • originally designed to display L's prized collection of Chinese porcelain placement: above fireplace perspective: vertical orientation pose: flamboyant Gothic contrapposto sartorial elements/motifs: • wrapped in kimono • fan(s) • Japanese screen
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(Left) WHISTLER’s The White Girl (1862) vs. (right) WHISTLER’s The Princess (c. 1875) from the Peacock Room
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Whistler •
The Balcony (1864‐1870; 1879) –
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critical response: Victorian • straightforward pastiche • imitation of Japanese prints setting: clearly English • view of factories of Battersea • atmosphere London fog spatial order: Japanese principles • floor falls abruptly away figures: forms cropped at margin of frame composition: consciously asymmetrical decorativeness: ornamental flowers float across foreground signature: rectangular form bears artist's monogram • painted in red to resemble Japanese seal
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Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Old Battersea Bridge (1872‐75) –
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process: utilized method of composing from memory • transposing forms of a scene to canvas w/out visually returning to actual motif brushwork: work rapidly • thinned oil paint • specially prepared "sauce“ • able to bring the entire canvas to a level of finish in a single session • similar to watercolor fluid spontaneity motif: debt to Japanese art (Hiroshige) • almost abstract span of the bridge • bridge itself is unpainted – announces its form by leaving dark ground of canvas exposed
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(Left) WHISTLER’s Nocturne in Blue & Gold: Old Battersea Bridge (1872‐75) vs. (right) HIROSHIGE’s Japanese “Riverside bamboo market” (1857) from series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo
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Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1875) –
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exhibition history: Grosvenor Gallery • alternative to Royal Academy exhibition • shown alongside Edward Burne‐Jones and other Pre‐Raphaelites 1877: W sues critic John Ruskin for libel • R had been champion of Pre‐Raphaelites and J. M. W. Turner • praised B‐J, while attacked W – “ill‐educated conceit of the artist so nearly approached the aspect of willful imposture” – “I have seen, and heard, much of Cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face” • W hoped to recover £1,000 plus costs • verdict in favor of W, but only awarded mere farthing – court costs split – sends W into bankruptcy
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IMAGE INDEX •
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Henri Fantin-Latour. Edouard Manet (1867), Oil on canvas, 117.5 x 90 cm., Art Institute of Chicago. MANET. Luncheon on the Grass (1863), Oil on canvas, 7’ x 8’10”, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Detail from MANET’s Luncheon on the Grass. (Left) MANET’s Luncheon on the Grass (1863); and (right) GIORGIONE’s Venetian Renaissance Fête Champêtre (1510). (Left) MANET’s Impressionist Luncheon on the Grass (1863); and (right) detail from RAPHAEL’s High Italian Renaissance The Judgment of Paris (c. 1520). MANET. Olympia (1863), Oil on canvas, 51 3/8 x 74 3/4 in., Musee d'Orsay, Paris. (Left) TITIAN’s Venetian Renaissance Venus of Urbino (c. 1538) vs. (right) MANET’s Impressionist Olympia (1863). (Left) INGRES’ Neo-Classical Grand Odalisque (1814), Oil on canvas, 91 x 162 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris; and (right) MANET’s Olympia (1863).
IMAGE INDEX •
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(Left) CABANEL’s The Birth of Venus (1863); and (right) MANET’s Olympia (1863). MANET. Portrait of Zola (1868), Oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. MANET. The Railway (1872-73), 93.3 x 111.5 cm., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Details of MANET’s The Railway. (Left) MANET’s Olympia (1863); and (right) MANET’s Lady with Fans; Portrait of Nina de Callias (1873-74), Oil on canvas, 44 ½ x 65 ¼ in., Musée d’Orsay, Paris. MANET. Bar at the Folies-Bergeres (1881-82), Oil on canvas, 37 3/4 x 51 1/4 in., Courtauld Institute Galleries, London. Details of MANET’s Bar at the Folies-Bergeres. WHISTLER. Self Portrait (1872), Oil on canvas, 29 ½ x 21 in., Detroit Institute of Art. WHISTLER. Caprice in Purple and Gold No 2 - The Golden Screen (1864), Oil on wood, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
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IMAGE INDEX •
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(Left) WHISTLER’s Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother known as "Whistler's Mother“ (1871), Oil on canvas, 56 3/4 x 64 in., Musee d'Orsay, Paris; and (right) WHISTLER. Caprice in Purple and Gold No 2 - The Golden Screen (1864). WHISTLER. “Princess from the Land of Porcelain” (186364), in The Peacock Room, Oil on canvas, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. (Left) WHISTLER’s “The Princess” (1863-64); and (right) WHISTLER’s Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (1862), Oil on canvas, 84 ½ x 42 ½ in., National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. (Left) KATSUKAWA, Shunsho. Segawa Kikunoju in a Female Role (c. late 18th century), color woodblock print, 12 3/8 x 5 1/4 in., Minneapolis Institute of Arts; and (right) WHISTLER’s The Princess (c. 1875).
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WHISTLER. Variations in Flesh Colour and Green – The Balcony (1864-1870; additions 1879), Oil on wood panel, 61.4 x 48.8 cm, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. WHISTLER. Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge (1872-77), Oil on canvas, 26 7/8 x 20 1/8 in., Tate Gallery, London. (Left) HIROSHIGE’s “Riverside bamboo market at Kyobashi” (1857), from series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo; and (right) WHISTLER’s Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge (1872-77). WHISTLER. Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1875), Oil on wood, 23 ¾ x 18 3/8 in., Detroit Institute of Art.
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