Impressionism is a movement mainly in French painting, characterized by the desire to convey fleeting impressions, a wealth of colors, psychological nuances, mobility and variability of the atmosphere of the surrounding world.
Fat strokes, bright colors, everyday scenes of life, candid poses and, most importantly, an accurate description of the light... Only a small fraction of the characteristics of one of the most popular artistic directions. in France in mid-19th century. Before its emergence, authors usually created still lifes, portraits and even landscapes in their studios.
For the first time in the history of art, artists made it a rule for themselves to paint not from the studio, but under open air: on the river bank, in a field, in a forest. Trying to express their direct impressions of things as accurately as possible, the Impressionists created a new method of painting.
PARKETERS, GUSTAVE CAIBOTT
One of the first paintings depicting the urban working class. Caillebotte illustrates the abiding interest in everyday life. Notice how accurately the artist captured the light coming through the window and the shadows. The painting is as realistic as a photograph, but was nevertheless rejected by the most prestigious art exhibitions and salons: the depiction of half-naked working-class men was considered a “vulgar subject.”
“The new world was born when the impressionists painted it”
Henri Kahnweiler
19th century France. Something unprecedented happened in painting. A group of young artists decided to shake 500-year-old traditions. Instead of a clear drawing, they used a wide, “sloppy” stroke.
And they completely abandoned the usual images. Portraying everyone. And ladies of easy virtue, and gentlemen of dubious reputation.
The public was not ready for impressionist painting. They were ridiculed and scolded. And most importantly, they didn’t buy anything from them.
But the resistance was broken. And some of the impressionists lived to see their triumph. True, they were already over 40. Like Claude Monet or Auguste Renoir. Some waited for recognition only at the end of their lives, like Camille Pissarro. Some did not live to see him, like Alfred Sisley.
What revolutionary did each of them accomplish? Why did the public take so long to accept them? Here are the 7 most famous French impressionists. Which the whole world knows.
1. Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883)
Edouard Manet. Self-portrait with a palette. 1878 Private collectionManet was older than most of the Impressionists. He was their main inspiration for change.
Manet himself did not claim to be the leader of the revolutionaries. He was a secular man. I dreamed of official awards.
But he waited a very long time for recognition. The public wanted to see greek goddesses. Or still lifes at worst. To look beautiful in the dining room. Manet wanted to paint modern life. For example, courtesans.
The result was “Breakfast on the Grass.” Two dandies are relaxing in the company of ladies of easy virtue. One of them, as if nothing had happened, sits next to the dressed men.
Edouard Manet. Breakfast on the grass. 1863, Paris Compare his Luncheon on the Grass with Thomas Couture's Romans in Decline. Couture's painting created a sensation. The artist instantly became famous.
“Breakfast on the Grass” was accused of vulgarity. Pregnant women were seriously not recommended to look at it.
Thomas Couture. Romans in their decline. 1847 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. artchive.ru In Couture's painting we see all the attributes of academicism ( traditional painting 16-19 centuries). Columns and statues. People of Apollonian appearance. Traditional muted colors. Manners of poses and gestures. A plot from the distant life of a completely different people.
“Breakfast on the Grass” by Manet is of a different format. Before him, no one had portrayed courtesans so easily. Close to respectable townspeople. Although many men of that time spent their leisure time this way. Real life real people.
Once I wrote to a respectable lady. Ugly. He couldn't flatter her with a brush. The lady was disappointed. She left him in tears.
Edouard Manet. Angelina. 1860 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Wikimedia.commons.org So he continued to experiment. For example, with color. He did not try to depict the so-called natural color. If he saw gray-brown water as bright blue, then he depicted it as bright blue.
This, of course, irritated the audience. After all, even the Mediterranean Sea cannot boast of being as blue as Manet’s water, they quipped.
Edouard Manet. Argenteuil. 1874 Museum fine arts, Tournai, Belgium. Wikipedia.org But the fact remains a fact. Manet radically changed the purpose of painting. The painting became the embodiment of the artist’s individuality. Who writes as he pleases. Forgetting about patterns and traditions.
All innovations did not forgive him for a long time. He received recognition only at the end of his life. When he no longer needed it. He was dying painfully from incurable disease.
2. Claude Monet (1840 – 1926)
Claude Monet. Self-portrait in a beret. 1886 Private collection Claude Monet can be called a Christian impressionist. Since he was faithful to this direction all his long life.
He painted not objects and people, but a single color construction of highlights and spots. Separate strokes. Air tremors.
Claude Monet. Paddling pool. 1869 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Metmuseum.org Monet painted not only nature. He was also successful in city landscapes. One of the most famous is.
There is a lot of photography in this picture. For example, motion is conveyed through a blurred image.
Notice how the distant trees and figures seem to be in a haze.
Claude Monet. Boulevard des Capucines in Paris. 1873 (Gallery of European and American Art of the 19th-20th centuries), Moscow Before us is a frozen moment in the bustling life of Paris. No staging. Nobody is posing. People are depicted as a collection of brush strokes. Such lack of plot and “freeze-frame” effect - main feature impressionism.
By the mid-80s, artists became disillusioned with impressionism. Aesthetics are, of course, good. But the lack of plot depressed many.
Only Monet continued to persist. Exaggerating impressionism. Which grew into a series of paintings.
He depicted the same landscape dozens of times. IN different times days. At different times of the year. To show how temperature and light can change the same species beyond recognition.
Thus, countless haystacks appeared.
Paintings by Claude Monet at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Left: Haystacks at sunset in Giverny, 1891. Right: Haystacks (snow effect), 1891.
Please note that the shadows in these paintings are colored. And not gray or black, as was customary before the Impressionists. This is another feature of theirs.
Monet managed to enjoy success and material well-being. After 40, he already forgot about poverty. He acquired a house and a beautiful garden. And he created for his own pleasure for many years.
Read about the master’s most iconic painting in the article
3. Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Self-portrait. 1875 Sterling and Francine Clark Institute of Art, Massachusetts, USA. Pinterest.ru Impressionism is the most positive painting. And the most positive among the impressionists was Renoir.
You won't find drama in his paintings. Even black paint he didn't use it. Only the joy of being. Even the most banal things in Renoir look beautiful.
Unlike Monet, Renoir painted people more often. Landscapes were less important to him. In his paintings his friends and acquaintances are relaxing and enjoying life.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Rowers' breakfast. 1880-1881 Phillips Collection, Washington, USA. Wikimedia.commons.org You won't find any profundity in Renoir. He was very happy to join the Impressionists. Who completely refused the plots.
As he himself said, he finally has the opportunity to write flowers and call them simply “Flowers.” And don’t invent any stories about them.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Woman with an umbrella in the garden. 1875 Thyssen-Bormenis Museum, Madrid. arteuam.com Renoir felt best in the company of women. He asked his maids to sing and joke. The stupider and more naive the song was, the better for him. And men's chatter tired him. It's no surprise that Renoir is famous for his nudes.
The model in the painting “Nude in sunlight” seems to appear against a colorful abstract background. Because for Renoir nothing is secondary. The model's eye or a section of the background are equivalent.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Nude in sunlight. 1876 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. wikimedia.commons.org Renoir lived a long life. And I never put down my brush and palette. Even when his hands were completely shackled by rheumatism, he tied the brush to his hand with a rope. And he drew.
Like Monet, he waited for recognition after 40 years. And I saw my paintings in the Louvre, next to my works famous masters.
Read about one of the most charming portraits of Renoir in the article
4. Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917)
Edgar Degas. Self-portrait. 1863 Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon, Portugal. cultured.com Degas was not a classical impressionist. He did not like to work in the open air (open air). You won’t find a deliberately lightened palette with him.
On the contrary, he loved a clear line. He has plenty of black. And he worked exclusively in the studio.
But still he is always put in a row with other great impressionists. Because he was an impressionist of gesture.
Unexpected angles. Asymmetry in the arrangement of objects. Characters taken by surprise. All these are the main attributes of his paintings.
He stopped a moment of life, not allowing him to come to his senses. Just look at his “Opera Orchestra”.
Edgar Degas. Opera orchestra. 1870 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. commons.wikimedia.org In the foreground is the back of a chair. The musician's back is to us. And in the background the ballerinas on stage did not fit into the “frame”. Their heads are mercilessly “cut off” by the edge of the picture.
That’s why his favorite dancers are not always depicted in beautiful poses. Sometimes they just do stretching.
But such improvisation is imaginary. Of course, Degas carefully thought through the composition. This is just a freeze frame effect, not a real freeze frame.
Edgar Degas. Two ballet dancers. 1879 Shelburne Museum, Vermouth, USA Edgar Degas loved to paint women. But illness or characteristics of the body did not allow him to have physical contact with them. He has never been married. No one had ever seen him with a woman.
The absence of real subjects in his personal life added a subtle and intense eroticism to his images.
Edgar Degas. Ballet star. 1876-1878 Musee d'Orsay, Paris. wikimedia.comons.org Please note that in the painting “Ballet Star” only the ballerina herself is depicted. Her colleagues behind the scenes are barely visible. Just a few legs.
This does not mean that Degas did not complete the painting. This is the reception. Keep only the most important things in focus. Make the rest disappear, illegible.
Read about other paintings by the master in the article
5. Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895)
Edouard Manet. Portrait of Berthe Morisot. 1873 Marmottan-Monet Museum, Paris. Berthe Morisot is rarely put in the first row with the great Impressionists. I'm sure it's not deserved. It is in her work that you will find all the main features and techniques of impressionism. And if you like impressionism, you will love her work with all your heart.
Morisot worked quickly and impetuously. Transferring your impression to canvas. The figures seem to be about to dissolve into space.
Berthe Morisot. Summer. 1880 Fabray Museum, Montpellier, France. Like Degas, she often left some details unfinished. And even parts of the model's body. We cannot distinguish the hands of the girl in the painting “Summer”.
Morisot's path to self-expression was difficult. Not only did she engage in “careless” painting. She was still a woman. In those days, a woman was supposed to dream of getting married. After which any hobbies were forgotten.
Therefore, Bertha refused marriage for a long time. Until she found a man who respected her occupation. Eugene Manet was the brother of the artist Edouard Manet. He dutifully yearned for his wife's easel and paints.
Berthe Morisot. Eugene Manet with his daughter in Bougival. 1881 Marmottan-Monet Museum, Paris. But still it was in the 19th century. No, I didn’t wear Morisot trousers. But she could not afford complete freedom of movement.
She couldn't go to the park to work alone. Unaccompanied by someone close to you. I couldn’t sit alone in a cafe. Therefore, her paintings are of people from the family circle. Husband, daughter, relatives.
Berthe Morisot. A woman with a child in a garden in Bougival. 1881 National Museum Wales, Cardiff. Morisot did not wait for recognition. She died at the age of 54 from pneumonia. Without selling almost any of his work during his lifetime. On her death certificate, there was a dash in the “occupation” column. It was unthinkable for a woman to be called an artist. Even if she actually was.
Read about the master’s paintings in the article
6. Camille Pissarro (1830 – 1903)
Camille Pissarro. Self-portrait. 1873 Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Wikipedia.org Camille Pissarro. Non-conflict, reasonable. Many perceived him as a teacher. Even the most temperamental colleagues did not speak badly of Pissarro.
He was a faithful follower of impressionism. In great need, with five children and a wife, he still worked hard in the same style. And I never switched to salon painting. To become more popular. It is not known where he got the strength to fully believe in himself.
In order not to die of hunger at all, Pissarro painted fans. Which were eagerly bought up. But real recognition came to him after 60 years! When he was finally able to forget about his need.
Camille Pissarro. Stagecoach in Louveciennes. 1869 Musée d'Orsay, Paris The air in Pissarro's paintings is thick and dense. An extraordinary fusion of color and volume.
The artist was not afraid to paint the most changeable natural phenomena. Which will appear for a moment and disappear. First snow, frosty sun, long shadows.
Camille Pissarro. Frost. 1873 Musée d'Orsay, Paris His most famous works are views of Paris. With wide boulevards, a bustling and colorful crowd. At night, during the day, in different weather. In some ways echoing the series of paintings by Claude Monet.
Impressionism first emerged in France towards the end XIX century. Before the emergence of this movement, still lifes, portraits and even landscapes were mainly painted by artists in studios. Impressionist paintings were often created in the open air, and their subjects were real fleeting scenes from modern life. And although impressionism was initially criticized, it soon attracted many followers and initiated similar movements in music and literature.
Famous French Impressionist Artists
It is not surprising that impressionism in painting became one of the most famous trends in fine art: artists who worked in this style left behind amazingly beautiful canvases, light, like a breath of fresh air, full of light and colors. Many of these beautiful works written by the following masters of impressionism, whom every self-respecting connoisseur of world painting knows.
Edouard Manet
Despite the fact that the entire work of Edouard Manet cannot be placed only within the framework of impressionism, the painter largely influenced the emergence of this movement, and other French artists working in this style considered him the founder of impressionism and their ideological inspirer. Other famous people were also good friends of the master. french impressionists: Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, as well as an impressionist artist with a similar surname that baffles newcomers to the world of painting - Claude Monet.
After meeting these artists, impressionistic changes took place in Manet’s work: he began to prefer working in the open air, light, bright colors, an abundance of light and fractional composition began to predominate in his paintings. Although from dark colors he still does not refuse, and prefers painting in landscapes everyday genre- this can be seen in the painter’s works “Bar at the Folies Bergere”, “Music in the Tuileries”, “Breakfast on the Grass”, “At Father Lathuile’s”, “Argenteuil” and others.
Claude Monet
Probably everyone has heard the name of this French artist at least once in their life. Claude Monet was one of the founders of impressionism, and it was his painting “Impression: Rising sun"gave its name to this movement.
In the 60s of the 19th century, the impressionist artist was one of the first to become interested in painting in the fresh air, and much later he created a new experimental approach to work. It consisted of observing and depicting the same object at different times of the day: this is how a whole series of canvases was created with a view of the façade of the Rouen Cathedral, opposite which the artist even settled so as not to lose sight of the building.
When exploring impressionism in painting, don't miss Monet's Field of Poppies at Argenteuil, Walk to the Cliff at Pourville, Women in the Garden, Lady with an Umbrella, Boulevard des Capucines, and the Watermen series. lilies."
Pierre Auguste Renoir
This impressionist artist had a unique vision of beauty, which made Renoir one of the most famous representatives this direction. First of all, he is famous for his paintings of noisy Parisian life and leisure late XIX centuries. Renoir was excellent at working with color and chiaroscuro; his exceptional ability to paint nudes, with a unique rendering of tones and textures, is especially noted.
Already from the 80s, the impressionist artist began to lean more towards the classical style of painting and became interested in Renaissance painting, which forced him to include sharper lines and clearer composition in his mature works. It was during this period that Pierre Auguste Renoir created some of the most imperishable works of his era.
Please pay attention special attention such paintings by Renoir as “The Luncheon of the Rowers”, “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette”, “Dance in the Village”, “Umbrellas”, “Dance at Bougival”, “Girls at the Piano”.
Edgar Degas
In the history of art, Edgar Degas remained as an impressionist artist, although he himself rejected this label, preferring to call himself more of an independent artist. Indeed, he had a certain interest in realism, which distinguished the artist from other impressionists, but at the same time he used many impressionist techniques in his work, in particular, he “played” with light in the same way and was fond of depicting scenes from city life.
Degas was always attracted by the human figure, he often depicted singers, dancers, laundresses, trying to depict the human body in various positions, for example, on the canvases “Dance Class”, “Rehearsal”, “Concert in the Ambassador Cafe”, “Opera Orchestra”, “ Dancers in blue."
Camille Pissarro
Pissarro was the only artist who took part in all eight Impressionist exhibitions from 1874 to 1886. While Impressionist paintings are known for their scenes of urban and country holidays, Pissarro's paintings show the viewer the daily life of French peasants, depicting rural nature in different settings and in different lighting.
When getting acquainted with the paintings that this impressionist artist painted, first of all it is worth seeing the works “Boulevard Montmartre at Night”, “The Harvest at Eragny”, “The Reapers Resting”, “The Garden at Pontoise” and “Entering the Village of Voisin”.
Impressionism
is the newspaper of the soul.
Henri Matisse.
Impressionism is a movement in painting that arose and developed in France in the second half of the 19th century - the first quarter of the 20th century. It was art school, which put in the foreground “to convey impressions, but in such a way that it is perceived as something material.” The task of the impressionist artist was to depict his own feelings from objects.
It is well known that the very word “impressionism” in relation to artists was first used by the journalist Louis Leroy, who was inspired by the title of a painting by Claude Monet “ Impression. Sunrise", where the port of Le Havre is depicted in the bluish pre-dawn haze.
The painting is in the Marmottan-Monet Museum in Paris. There are more than three hundred paintings by the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists, which means that once you visit the museum, you will come away with some understanding of the ideas of Impressionism. And you can continue at the Musée d’Orsay, whose collection is the envy of many.
Impressionist artists transferred onto their canvases only their perception of reality and its various manifestations, and not what they knew: for example, the earth in their paintings could be purple, lilac, blue, pink or orange, but never black or dark brown.
Impressionism, so criticized by its contemporaries, was appreciated fifty years later, and today the Impressionists are considered and appreciated as masterpieces of world painting. We present to your attention the most memorable representatives of impressionism.
Renoir, Pierre Auguste (1841 - 1919).
Art critics say that Renoir’s important achievement was the use of the theory of the impressionists and their technique not only when painting landscapes and still lifes or people in the open air, but also when painting nude models and portraits.
Renoir often turned to the image of a naked female body. He conveyed the play of light and sun on the skin, which seemed alive in his paintings. He painted a naked female body, with frozen drops of water, pearlescent sparkling skin, pink, tanned, and at the end of life - orange, shimmering in the fire of the sun's rays.
Renoir rejected all theories, saying: “ Theories don't help you write good picture, most often they try to cover up the lack of expressive means».
It is interesting that Renoir's first works were made in a realistic manner. For example, “Diana the Huntress” and “Mother Anthony’s Tavern.”
Renoir was friends with Monet, an impressionist artist, who will be discussed below. This friendship, in fact, led to the fact that Renoir would use the Impressionist technique.
However, art critics and painting historians draw attention to the fact that, following the example of the Impressionists, Renoir refuses dark tones, but from time to time he still makes small inclusions in his paintings. Among the works of this period, first of all, one can name “Pont Neuf”, “Grand Boulevards”, “Pathway among the Tall Grass”.
The artist, suffering from attacks of rheumatism, spent the last years of his life in the south of France in Cagnes-sur-Mer at the Colette estate. Works of this period, from 1903 to 1919. permeated with sensuality, Renoir’s canvases are dominated by warm colors - pink, red, orange.
The influence of the masters of the past is very noticeable - Rubens Boucher and others. For example, “ Judgment of Paris», « Bather wiping her foot" The best and last job The painting “Bathers”, painted in 1918, is considered. Today his estate, in the shade of an olive and orange grove, is open to visitors. You can look into the living room and dining room, go upstairs to the artist’s bedroom, which preserves the atmosphere of his last days: wheelchair, easel and brushes. On one of the walls in his wife’s room hangs a photograph of Renoir’s son Pierre, and from the window there is an amazing view of Antibes and Hautes Cannes.
Thanks to French cinema, you can immerse yourself in the last period of Auguste Renoir's life, meet his son and see the struggle of art with harsh reality. In March, the film by French director Gilles Bourdot “Renoir: Last love" The artist is just finishing “Bathers”.
Cote d'Azur, great artist, his muse... the French are masters of their craft, and the opportunity to actually see with your own eyes a great master at work, and then see the result of his work, is worth a lot. It was this picture that closed the last Cannes Film Festival.
Monet Claude (1840 - 1926).
Claude Monet called the father of impressionism. The future artist was born in Paris, but his childhood and youth were spent in the north of France, in the city of Le Havre. Monet was greatly influenced by Eugene Boudin, French artist, considered the precursor of impressionism. It was he who taught him to work in the open air (in the lane, in the open air).
Cezanne said: " Monet is just an eye, but what an eye!» It’s hard to argue and not fall in love with the Parisian streets, coastlines and landscapes of Normandy, on Monet’s canvases.
His famous painting"Breakfast on the Grass" was written in 1863. in the village of Chailly-en-Bières, located on the outskirts of the Fontainebleau forest; its central part, damaged by dampness and cut out by the author, is kept in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and a repetition of the painting in the museum fine arts them. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow.
Autumn 1908 and 1909 the artist spent time in Venice, captivated by the charm of the city, its constantly changing reflection on the water surface of the canal. Here Monet painted Venice: The Doge's Palace and Venice: The Grand Canal. The genius of Monet incredibly managed to depict the city as if covered in a light pre-dawn haze.
At sunset creative path Monet created sophisticated paintings inspired by the water lilies in the pond at his home in Giverny.
When the artist moved in 1883 in search of a quiet place in Giverny, it is unlikely that he suspected how much life would change the sleepy village in Normandy. Soon after his arrival, the city, eighty kilometers from Paris, was flooded with young artists from different parts of Europe in search of the Master.
Nowadays, artists and art lovers in search of inspiration come to take a walk in the gardens of Giverny and visit the restored house. Therefore, if you fell in love with the beautiful paintings of Monet in the d'Orsay, Marmottan and Orangerie museums, then Giverny will be in first place on your must-see list.
Sisley Alfred (1839 - 1899).
Being an impressionist Sisley He paid particular attention to conveying nuances and sensations. He loved to paint the water surface, sky, fog, snow. “The painting needs to evoke in the viewer the same feelings that overwhelmed the artist when he looked at this landscape,” said Sisley.
Notice how light, almost weightless the houses, the surface of the water with light ripples, the pastel sky and the foliage of the trees seem. His paintings, written with thin, airy strokes, set the mood for a poetic, romantic mood.
A significant collection of the artist’s paintings is in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Don't ignore it when you're in the capital of France. You'll enjoy not only Sisley's work, but also paintings by other Impressionist artists on display at this museum on the banks of the Seine.
Pissarro Camille (1830 - 1903).
Art critics write that if Claude Monet and Sisley most loved to imagine water and changing reflections on its surface in their paintings, then Pissaro gave preference to the land. His art is free from fleeting impressions - everything about it is more thorough. Notice how often scenes from rural life. The artist used the color scheme in such a way that when studying his canvases, it seems as if they are filled with light from within. Pissarro loved to paint orchards and fields, amazingly conveying the changes of nature.
Pissarro knew Monet, with whom they loved to paint together in the vicinity of Paris. “Gare Saint-Lazare”, “Pavilion of Flore and Pont Royal”, “Place Comedie-Française”, “View of the Louvre, Seine and Pont Neuf” were written here.
Cezanne called him “modest and great”, quite deservedly, what do you think?
Seurat Georges (1859 - 1891).
One of characteristic features Seurat had a desire to bring a fresh spirit to impressionism.
His work - both drawings and paintings- based on the theory of contrasts. Most famous painting, certainly familiar to you, is the masterpiece “Sunday Stroll on the Island of La La Grande Jatte,” kept at the Art Institute of Chicago. This painting became an expression of new trends in art, an expression of the ideas of neo-impressionism. A feeling of complete peace was achieved by combining cold and warm tones, light and shadow.
“Cancan,” a no less famous painting by the artist, on the contrary, conveys a feeling of joy and movement, using warm shades and bright colors.
I would like to end with the words of Claude Monet “ People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it"s simply necessary to love ». ( People discuss my paintings, trying to understand. Why do you need to understand if you can just love??)
Just a year ago, the phrase “Russian Impressionism” grated on the ears of the average citizen of our vast country. Every educated person knows about light, bright and swift french impressionism, can distinguish Monet from Manet and recognize Van Gogh's sunflowers from all still lifes. Someone heard something about the American branch of the development of this direction of painting - more urban landscapes of Hassam and portrait images of Chase compared to the French ones. But researchers still argue about the existence of Russian impressionism.
Konstantin Korovin
The history of Russian impressionism began with the painting “Portrait of a Chorus Girl” by Konstantin Korovin, as well as with misunderstanding and condemnation of the public. Seeing this work for the first time, I. E. Repin did not immediately believe that the work was executed by a Russian painter: “Spaniard! It's obvious. He writes boldly and juicily. Wonderful. But this is just painting for painting's sake. A Spaniard, however, with a temperament...” Konstantin Alekseevich himself began to paint his canvases in an impressionistic manner back in student years, being unfamiliar with the paintings of Cezanne, Monet and Renoir, long before his trip to France. Only thanks to the experienced eye of Polenov, Korovin learned that he was using the French technique of that time, which he came to intuitively. At the same time, the Russian artist is given away by the subjects that he uses for his paintings - recognized masterpiece"Northern Idyll", written in 1892 and kept in Tretyakov Gallery, demonstrates to us Korovin’s love for Russian traditions and folklore. This love was instilled in the artist by the “Mammoth circle” - the community creative intelligentsia, which included Repin, Polenov, Vasnetsov, Vrubel and many other friends of the famous philanthropist Savva Mamontov. In Abramtsevo, where Mamontov’s estate was located and where members of the artistic circle gathered, Korovin was lucky enough to meet and work with Valentin Serov. Thanks to this acquaintance, the work of the already accomplished artist Serov acquired the features of light, bright and swift impressionism, which we see in one of his early works – « Open window. Lilac".
Portrait of a chorus girl, 1883
Northern idyll, 1886
Bird cherry, 1912
Gurzuf 2, 1915
Pier in Gurzuf, 1914
Paris, 1933
Valentin Serov
Serov’s painting is permeated with a feature inherent only in Russian impressionism - his paintings reflect not only the impression of what the artist saw, but also the state of his soul in at the moment. For example, in the painting “St. Mark’s Square in Venice,” painted in Italy, where Serov went to in 1887 due to a serious illness, cold gray tones predominate, which gives us an idea of the artist’s condition. But, despite the rather gloomy palette, the painting is a standard impressionistic work, since Serov managed to capture real world in its mobility and variability, to convey your fleeting impressions. In a letter to his bride from Venice, Serov wrote: “In this century They write everything that is hard, nothing joyful. I want, I want, gratifying things, and I will write only gratifying things.”
Open window. Lilac, 1886
St. Mark's Square in Venice, 1887
Girl with peaches (Portrait of V. S. Mamontova)
Coronation. Confirmation of Nicholas II in the Assumption Cathedral, 1896
Girl illuminated by the sun, 1888
Bathing a horse, 1905
Alexander Gerasimov
One of the students of Korovin and Serov, who adopted their expressive brushwork, bright palette and sketch style of painting, was Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov. The artist’s creativity flourished during the revolution, which could not help but be reflected in the subjects of his paintings. Despite the fact that Gerasimov gave his brush to the service of the party and became famous thanks to his outstanding portraits of Lenin and Stalin, he continued to work on impressionistic landscapes that were close to his soul. Alexander Mikhailovich’s work “After the Rain” reveals to us the artist as a master of conveying air and light in a painting, which Gerasimov owes to the influence of his eminent mentors.
Artists at Stalin's dacha, 1951
Stalin and Voroshilov in the Kremlin, 1950s
After the rain. Wet terrace, 1935
Still life. Field bouquet, 1952
Igor Grabar
In a conversation about late Russian impressionism, one cannot help but turn to the work of the great artist Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar, who adopted many of the techniques of French painters of the second half of the 19th century century thanks to his numerous trips to Europe. Using the techniques of classical impressionists, in his paintings Grabar depicts absolutely Russian landscape motifs and everyday scenes. While Monet is painting blooming gardens Giverny, and Degas - beautiful ballerinas, Grabar depicts the harsh Russian winter and village life with the same pastel colors. Most of all, Grabar loved to depict frost on his canvases and dedicated an entire collection of works to it, consisting of more than a hundred small multi-colored sketches created at different times of the day and in different weather. The difficulty of working on such drawings was that the paint froze in the cold, so we had to work quickly. But this is precisely what allowed the artist to recreate “that very moment” and convey his impression of it, which is the main idea of classical impressionism. Igor Emmanuilovich’s painting style is often called scientific impressionism, because it gave great value light and air on canvases and created a lot of research on color transmission. Moreover, it is to him that we owe chronological arrangement paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery, of which he was director in 1920-1925.
Birch Alley, 1940
Winter landscape, 1954
Frost, 1905
Pears on a blue tablecloth, 1915
Corner of the estate (Ray of the Sun), 1901
Yuri Pimenov
Completely non-classical, but still impressionism developed in Soviet era, a prominent representative of which is Yuri Ivanovich Pimenov, who came to depict “a fleeting impression in bed colors” after working in the style of expressionism. One of the most famous works Pimenov becomes the painting “New Moscow” of the 1930s - light, warm, as if painted with the airy strokes of Renoir. But at the same time, the plot of this work is completely incompatible with one of the main ideas of impressionism - refusal to use social and political themes. Pimenov’s “New Moscow” perfectly reflects social change in the life of the city, which have always inspired the artist. “Pimenov loves Moscow, its new, its people. The painter generously gives this feeling to the viewer,” writes artist and researcher Igor Dolgopolov in 1973. And indeed, looking at the paintings of Yuri Ivanovich, we are imbued with love for Soviet life, new neighborhoods, lyrical housewarmings and urbanism, captured in the technique of impressionism.
Pimenov’s creativity once again proves that everything “Russian” brought from other countries has its own special and unique path of development. So is French impressionism in Russian Empire and the Soviet Union absorbed the features of the Russian worldview, national character and everyday life. Impressionism as a way of conveying only the perception of reality in its pure form remained alien to Russian art, because every painting by Russian artists is filled with meaning, awareness, the state of the changeable Russian soul, and not just a fleeting impression. Therefore, next weekend, when the Museum of Russian Impressionism re-presents the main exhibition to Muscovites and guests of the capital, everyone will find something for themselves among Serov’s sensual portraits, Pimenov’s urbanism and landscapes atypical for Kustodiev.
New Moscow
Lyrical housewarming, 1965
Costume room Bolshoi Theater, 1972
Early morning in Moscow, 1961
Paris. Rue Saint-Dominique. 1958
Stewardess, 1964
Perhaps for most people the names Korovin, Serov, Gerasimov and Pimenov are still not associated with a specific art style, but the Museum of Russian Impressionism, which opened in May 2016 in Moscow, nevertheless collected the works of these artists under one roof.
