What is Impressionism?

In 1960s and 1970s, HNP chivalry came to the French painting world with an innovative attitude, and its sharp edge was to oppose Chen Xiangyin's classical painting school and romanticism trapped in medieval chivalry literature. Impressionism absorbed the nutrition of the realism of Koro, barbizon School and Courbet, and under the inspiration of modern science and technology (especially the theory and practice of optics) in the 9th century, it paid attention to the study and expression of external light in painting. Impressionist painters advocated outdoor sketching, directly depicting objects in the sun, thus giving up earthy tones, which has hardly changed since16th century, and expressing subtle color changes according to the painter's own eye observation and direct feelings. In this respect, Impressionist painters also gained useful experience from Dutch small painting school, Spanish painter Velazquez, British painter Turner and constable.

Starting from Impressionism, European painters tried to get rid of the influence of literature and pay more attention to the painting language itself. There are two kinds of impressionists. First, represented by Degas; One is represented by Monet. Of course, some painters fall between these two types.

As early as the 1960s, a group of young people with the spirit of exploration and innovation were deeply dissatisfied with the conservative official salon's suppression of young people's creative spirit. Following the example of Courbet's fighting spirit against official art, they United around Manet, who was ridiculed by the official salon and dared to explore new ideas, and formed a group opposed to the official salon. These painters met Renoir's studio in Basil and sketched directly on the banks of the Seine. Painters who often attend parties include Monet, Renoir, pissarro, Basile and Cezanne. Critics include Du Rui and Rivera, and the painter Du Lang Runje sponsored the party. 1874 In April, this group of young painters held an exhibition in the studio of photographer Nadal in Kaposin Street, Paris. They call themselves the Association of Unknown Painters, Sculptors and Printmakers. Attending the exhibition are Monet, Renoir, pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Cezanne, Mo Lisuo, Qingye and others. In the exhibition, the title of Monet's oil painting Impression Sunrise was ridiculed by a conservative journalist Louis leroy, who called the exhibition "an exhibition of impressionist painters", hence the name "Impressionism". The Impressionist Art Exhibition was held eight times from 1874 to 1886. They are 1874 respectively. 1876, 1877, 1879, 1880, 188 1 882 and 1886. In addition to the first, fourth and eighth exhibitions, the word "Impressionism" was used as the name of the exhibition.

Impressionism is a loose art group. This club has no clear plan. Artists get together only because their painting styles are consistent, so it is convenient for them to hold exhibitions together. Some artists who participated in the exhibition were obsessed with Impressionism for a while, but later they pursued other things. Some people change their painting style again and again. In addition, the level of participating painters is also different.

Impressionism in painting is equivalent to naturalism in French literature. Impressionism and naturalism are both influenced by philosophical positivism.

Although Edouard Manet (1832-1883) is closely related to impressionist painting, he did not attend any impressionist painting exhibitions. The young man was born in an artistic family and was interested in painting since he was a child. He was dissatisfied with the teaching of Thomas Coudre, an academic school, and was infatuated with Titian, Gregory, Ribeira, Velazquez and Goya. At the age of 27, hals and Rubens created a painting "Lover of Absinthe" (1859), which reflected the dark side of life and expressed his rebellion against academic tradition. This painting emphasizes the contrast between light and shadow, with less intermediate tones. It is drawn by direct sketch, with outstanding instantaneous effect, exquisite and rich colors, and especially pays attention to the role of black. Later, Lunch on the Grass (1863) and Olympia, another oil painting depicting naked women (1863), were works with secular spirit drawn by rigorous and realistic traditional methods, but they were rejected by the official salon because of their bold ideas and novel techniques. But his outstanding artistic talent was warmly praised by Baudelaire and Zola. His oil paintings in the early 1960s included The Old Musician, Guitarist and Victor Lena Milan in Spanish costume. Laura from Valencia is a work of transition from realism to impressionism. Manet's interest in light was first reflected in the painting "Concert in Tillery Palace Garden" (1862). Manet's political stance is close to radical factions. 1867 The oil painting Emperor maximilian was shot, which reflected the political events in June of the same year in a tortuous way. During the Paris Commune, MANET was elected as a member of the art management committee led by Courbet in the absence.

Manet was the first painter who broke the traditional tan tone and made the picture bright and fresh with the help of external light. In the 1970s, he completed a series of oil paintings, such as On the Boat, Monet Painting on the Boat, Bed Sheets and so on. At that time, influenced by Mo Lisuo and others, he adopted impressionist techniques and colors, and gave up black, which made his painting more free. However, Manet, who has always been influenced by classical art, has always maintained a grand and solemn charm in his works. His Portrait of Bella in 1872 and Follis-Berger Bar Room in1881-kloc-0/882 are quite representative in this respect.

The most typical impressionist painter is claude monet (1840 1-926). He was one of the founders of the early impressionism and insisted on impressionism painting style all his life. He and Renoir. Sisley and Basil studied in Glarey Studio, but they left the studio because they were not satisfied with academic teaching, and went to Fontainebleau forest area near barbizon to sketch the scenery in Charlene Marilynn Dangelo Bull. His early painting style was influenced by barbizon school painters Courbet and Manet. He visited London on 1870 and was very interested in Turner's landscape paintings. Japanese ukiyo-e prints have been collected since 187 1 1872, he painted the landscape painting Impression Sunrise in le havre Harbor, and soon he and a group of painters set up a mobile studio in Aginty, on the Seine River, to observe the ever-changing natural scenes and capture the beauty of colors in the sunshine and air atmosphere. His landscape paintings break through the shackles of traditional themes and composition, and take the perception of the visual experience of the motif as the main starting point. 1883 Monet settled in giverny, a suburb of Paris. After his second visit to London in 189 1, he created a group painting about haystacks and Rouen church. These landscapes focus on the ever-changing appearance of the same scene in different light atmospheres. They ignore the realism of the outline of objects, mainly express instant impressions with light and color, and pursue the beauty of independent color relationship in painting. This artistic pursuit is particularly prominent in the water lily paintings he created in his later years. According to the scene of water lilies in the pond of giverny Villa Garden, his group paintings were completed under the condition of old age, infirmity and poor eyesight. These paintings are magnificent and charming in artistic expression. He donated 12 works to the French government, which were placed in the reconstructed orange orchard. He paints with primary colors, and the effect is very strong. His brushwork and coloring are also very free and full of freehand brushwork. In addition to the frankness unique to Impressionism, his works also have some mysterious colors related to nature. The obscurity of the picture (especially in his later works) and the grand decorative effect are also the remarkable characteristics of his creation. His exploration undoubtedly inspired later abstract painters.

Among the impressionist painters, Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) mainly painted female and nude portraits. The son of a poor tailor made a living by painting pottery at first, then studied in Greer's studio and joined the Impressionist Association. His paintings are full of joyful atmosphere and emotional color. He tried to use Impressionism in portraits and nude paintings and achieved ideal results. The images of children in his works are also very artistic.

Renoir was influenced by Diaz, Delacroix, Manet and Courbet in his early days. Di Anna, written in 1867, deals with classical themes in a soft atmosphere and attracts people's attention. Since 1970s, his painting style has become more gentle and poetic. The box created in 1874 shows the maturity of his style. However, the composition of many characters, such as jinao (1876) and Lunch on the Ship (188 1), has obviously weakened the outline, and the color processing is softer and dreamy. Renoir's painting style has undergone new changes since 1883. He once again pays attention to sketch modeling, the outline turns to concreteness and affirmation, and the color is smooth and meticulous, which seems to be inspired by Angel style. This stage is called the "classical style" period. In his later years, he suffered from severe joint inflammation and was inconvenient to move. He tied the brush to his arm and insisted on painting in a wheelchair. Since 19 13, he has been engaged in sculpture creation, most of which were designed by him and completed by another young Italian sculptor.

Edgar Degas (1834- 19 17) was born in a wealthy bourgeois family, received a strict classical education, inherited Engel's painting style in the early days, and later had close contacts with Manet, Basil and Mo Lisuo. He is also a good friend of Fontainebleau, Cezanne and pissarro, and his painting style has changed. Because of his rich family, he doesn't care about the future of his works, and his painting style doesn't cater to secular tastes. He also conducted various experiments and explorations in techniques, and was an artist who used a variety of techniques and materials. He is good at historical painting, portrait painting and genre painting, especially at painting women workers, models wearing and bathing, and ballet dancers. He calmly observed the background and the objects in the box, and recorded the movements of the actors when they danced. His paintings "Absinthe" (1878) and "The Woman Ironing Clothes" vividly show the movements, demeanor and feelings of the object in a specific environment. His oil paintings and pastels are warm, light and bright. Degas is also an excellent sculptor, leaving over 70 sculptures for later generations, mainly ballerinas and some dynamic human bodies.

Sisley (1839— 1899) of British descent is a landscape painter and one of the key figures in the French impressionist movement. He was influenced by Courbet and admired Connor even more. In the early 1970s, Agint Tai Caliso's sketch landscapes "The Seine in Tai Caliso" and "Viale raglan Bridge" (both 1872) showed his interest in color innovation. He is good at arranging details and handling pictures, seemingly casual, but full of lyric poetry. Sisley's painting style changes gently, which is different from Monet's and Renoir's. He didn't get the attention he deserved when he was alive. In his later years, the scenery he created with heavy paintings and cool colors was also wonderful.

Pissarro (1830-1903) was also one of the key figures in the impressionist movement. He is the only one who has participated in eight Impressionist exhibitions, and he is also the oldest painter in this group. Before the Impressionist exhibition, he participated in many official salons. His thought is radical and full of utopian socialism. He linked the innovation of painting with the freedom of thought. He sympathizes with farmers and pays attention to describing farmers and rural scenery. He helped Cezanne paint a brighter picture and was also influenced by Cezanne's structural approach. So is his relationship with Gauguin. In his later years, he was infatuated with Sinek and Seurat's stippling.

Bert Murphy (1841-1895) is a talented and tender-hearted impressionist female painter. She was encouraged by Connor and learned a lot from Connor's paintings. 1868 met MANET and married his brother Eugene. She played a role in MANET's painting style transformation (giving up the usual black and using impressionist colors). After the mid-1980s, she was influenced by Renoir. Mo Lisuo's painting theme is taken from the close-up life scenes around her, with elegant and exquisite painting style, bright and green colors and subtle changes.

Cassatt, an American female painter, is also an active participant in the French Impressionist Art Exhibition.

Impressionist painters who oppose the academic model and romantic illusory passion focus on depicting the reality they feel and the life around them. In this respect, they are similar to the realism school. The difference is that most of them don't have the ambition to transform society with art, and don't pay attention to and reproduce the ugly and vulgar side of society like realistic artists. Most of their works record instant impressions. In order to capture fleeting life scenes and natural scenes, they deliberately pursue accidental and frank effects without seeking the integrity of composition. Most of them ignore the shape of the object, but pay attention to the visual impression and light color effect, so the contour line is weakened and the shape is hazy and fuzzy. Then they ruled out black, used solid color and pursued the brilliance of hue, thus paving the way for the new impressionist pointillism.

Impressionism denies the role of imagination in artistic creation, rejects narrative literary content, gives full play to painting language and meets the aesthetic needs of emerging citizens, which has its innovative side; But at the same time, it also weakens other means of expression of painting and reduces the social and historical content of painting. In addition, impressionism ignores the lasting and eternal shape of objects and is obsessed with color and light, which will inevitably lead to formalism and abstraction in painting.