DRAWING AND PAINT

From the first week of the debut of the Impressionists in the spring of 1874, the term ‘impressionism’ gained favor and spread quickly throughout the art world.  Impressionism has a sensual immediacy to the viewer, far from the static nature of a portrait or even the lush tones of a still life of red apples.  Impressionism became so important to the world of art that a prominent patron and a fine Impressionist himself, Gustave Caillebotte, subsidized his more financially-stressed colleagues and provided generously for exhibitions of this new artistic mode.  And why should Impressionism gain such high regard?  In the beginning, Impressionism was criticized as ‘brutal’ and ‘lacking in skill.’  As time passed, however, the themes of high romance and fantasy in the earlier part of the 19^th century subsided and the everyday scenes of Impressionism prevailed.  These scenes of bathers on the beach, picnickers at ease on a Sunday greensward and workers toiling in a railroad yard provided an almost photographic record of the lives of the people in the latter quarter of the century.  Impressionism can also be said to be a political movement away from the sensibilities of the upper classes with their emphasis on historic nobility and fanciful subjects.  Moving strongly towards the working class’ emphasis on light and ephemeral pastimes in the midst of lifelong toil, the politics of the art world turned towards collectivism and a celebration of the greater majority of human existence.

We’ve all thought about artists in studios, but Impressionism emphasized the advantages of working in plain air, that is, the outdoors: the flesh tints of a model keep their true qualities because they are nearly equally lit on all sides, while artificial light in a studio may force that feature which the light strikes into undue relief and thus be untrue to its subject.  Open air painting also has the advantage of exposing artists to a more social environment and enabling them to expound on their techniques to any onlookers, which may even aid artists in clearing their own heads about their goals.  Conversely, open air painters may inspire onlookers to take up painting themselves.  Certainly art is removed from the mystery of the studio and shown to be attainable even by the humblest of students.

Impressionism remains in a vaunted place in art history, replacing the art schools’ highly disciplined techniques with sketchlike brushwork, a lack of conventional drawing as well as modeling and composition and, especially, unconventionally bright, juxtaposed hues.  The emphasis is placed, therefore, not on the photographic depiction of a sunrise but of the artist’s sensation of nature, the way that the sun gradually reveals the world it left behind with the previous dusk.  Subjectively, the artist paints his impression of the sunrise and if you wish to include this impressionistic painting in your home or office, you are paying homage to a uniquely individual artistic view of the world.  Your impressionistic painting will show to your guests or clients that you value individualism in the conformist world of today.  You will be proven right in your choice of art.