IMPRESSIONISM Mannat Sidhu
CONTENTS Emerging the style of Impressionism ..................... 04 The Secret garden ............... 05 Note on Marry Casaatt ...... 06 Diffrentiating Impressionism and post Impressionism .................... 07
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Emerging the Style of Impressionism
Oil on Canvas painting, Pierre- Auguste Renoir, Lise Sewing, c. 1867- 68
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Impressionism is a movement started in the mid 1860s by people who rejected the government sanctioned exhibitions, often known as salons. The set of radicle artists preffered painting outdoors than sitting in the studios and focuse much on capturing a moment in their “flecked and somewhat formless� paintings. In turning away from the fine finish and detail to which most artists of their day aspired, the Impressionists aimed to capture the momentary, sensory effect of a scene, they focussed on impression objects made on the eye in a fleeting instant. To achieve this effect, many Impressionist artists moved from the studio to the streets and countryside, painting en plein air. Claude Monet, Camilla Pissaro, Pierro- Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot, Paul Cezanne, Edouard Manet, and Mary Cassatt were a few famous Impressionists of the time who went againt the salon and the realistic stye of painting prevailent at that time. Their paintings or rather sketches, as called by some local newspapers gave a very rough and unfinished look. The paintings has a very peculiar characteristic of unmixed and intense colours done in small and thin strokes. During the mid- nineteenth centuary, there were many ideas of what constituted modernity. Part of the Impressionist idea was to capture a split second of life, an ephemeral moment in time on the canvas: the impression. Scientific thought at the time was beginning to recognize that what the eye perceived and what the brain understood were two different things. The Impressionists sought to capture the former - the optical effects of light - to convey the passage of time, changes in weather, and other shifts in the atmosphere in their canvases. Their art did not necessarily rely on realistic depictions.
Oil on canvas Painting, Mannat Sidhu, c. 2020 The Secret Garden
This painting,The Secret Garden is painted by me with oil paints on canvas. Inspired by the Impressionist style of painting it is done sitting outdoors making rough and uneven strokes, while taking care to leave the colours unmixed for the viewer’s eye to blend. Inspired by the garden at my home and capturing the beauty of the lawn and its lushgreen grass alongside the lilies and Palm tree in the back next to the wall.The painting also captures the beauty of sky at dawn. Painting this, gave me a new perspective on Impressionism. I realised that paintings which look like unfinished sketches can be difficult to make, I learnt how to make strokes which didn’t actually blend into one another but appeared to blend when seen for long. This project increased my respect for Impressionists to another level.
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Mary Cassatt
Oil on Canvas painting, Mary Cassatt, Self Potrait, c. 1880s
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Mary Cassatt was one of the only known women artist of the time. Her work has inspired so many young women to take up the field of Fine Arts. She was often inspired by people and things around her and often looked into the inner beauty of things and gave special emphasis on detailing the background as much as the foreground. Her viewpoint with respect to the subject of her paintings was very unique than that of her contemporaries. Out of all famous artists of the time she inspires me the most because she had her own style of painting wherein she painted a lot of figures, specially those of women and children often inspired by her immediate surroundings.The way she manipulated the impressionist style to make human figures is something that really inspires me to try new things and twist them in different and creative ways and reminds me of the quote “Learn the rules like a pro, break them like an artist.� The way she creates impressions of delicate features such as skin and cloth drapery with thin and uneven strokes amuses me. Her paintings have left a very woving impression on me.
Impressionism and Post Impressionism: A comparison The Impressionism period wasa followed by a post impressionism period wherein artists who gave rise to the Impressionism movement in Art History got bored and dissatisfied with the rigid rules of the movement with respect to light and colour. Impressionism gave a lot of emphasis on its natural element and the use of colour and light in the paintings, whereas the Post Impressionism believed in a more finer depth in roles of colour,
form and soliditary in their paintings. Post Impressionism even though is a continuation of Impressionism but it does not restrict itself to the limitations of the Impressionist period. During this time the Art history saw a major transition in paintings which were more realistic and life like to random sketchy strokes.This brief period is known to mark the beginning of an era of what we today call modern art. Many new artists came into picture during this time. One such famous artist which we all know today is Vincent Van Gogh, who during his lifetime made hundreds of paintings all of which are categorised under post impressionist style of Art. Post impressionism doesnt really define any single style but encompasses all artists whose main goal was to potray emotions and intellect in addition to imagery.
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Presented by: Mannat Sidhu Foundation Group 2 Roll No 12 BD/19/262
