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I continue to think of creative ways to share art with you all even though we can’t go out in public. Today, I’m sharing my favorite Impressionist paintings at the MFA in Boston, along with a quick primer on the movement. Let me know what else you’d like to see in this newsletter while we’re all quarantined during the coronavirus crisis.
Monet’s water lilies. Degas’s dancers. Everyone loves the Impressionists, with their pastel colors and short, quick brushstrokes. The works of these 19th-century artists, mostly male and French, are a perennial favorite of museum goers. The Impressionist room at the MFA is nearly always filled with tourists and locals alike, there to admire the colorful landscapes and softly hued figures that fill Impressionist painting. These works are over a hundred years old, conventional, maybe a little staid, yet beautiful and well-regarded.
Back in the 1870s, Impressionism was none of these things. In fact, it was a brand new, radical style of making art that shocked the establishment art world and created a new paradigm that ushered in the beginnings of modern art. When they were first exhibited, Impressionist paintings were widely panned and like nothing critics had seen before.
Claude Monet, The Water Lily Pond, 1900. All images from collections.mfa.org.
The industrial revolution and the rise of new technology (like photography) changed the social landscape of the late 19th century. Sophisticated city culture was on the rise. Amid these changes, the Impressionists wanted their work to show how places and people could look at different times of day, in different seasons, in different light—to give the viewer the impression of a stolen image, rather than a photorealistic depiction. Hallmarks of an Impressionist painting include the quick, light brushstrokes and an image that looks different depending on whether you’re standing closer or farther away from the canvas. These techniques couldn’t be replicated by a camera, proving that painting and drawing would stay relevant as new technology arose.
Impressionist painters were a closely connected group of collaborators and friends who shared a unique style—and their initial exclusion from the art world establishment. In the 19th century, the annual French Salon was the pinnacle of fine art; painters who were admitted to the show found praise and success. The accepted categories were rigidly defined: portraiture, history painting, still life. The exhibits were hung very densely, with paintings crowded onto the wall, and the paintings judged the best were placed at eye height. Today, the MFA has a gallery in the American Wing hung to emulate what a Salon would have looked like.
The Impressionists broke the mold of conventional painting by focusing largely on country life and simple landscapes, drawn with a light hand, that looked unfinished to their contemporaries’ eyes. In fact, the name of the movement comes from a scathing review that declared the paintings at their first group show weren’t finished pieces, only “impressions.” The group ended up adopting the name for themselves and holding several group shows over the years, leading to financial and cultural success.
Here are my favorite Impressionist paintings by some of the movement’s most prominent artists on view at the MFA in Boston. I can’t wait to go visit them when we’re all out in the world again.
Claude Monet, Grainstack (Snow Effect) and Grainstack (Sunset) (both 1891). I love these two because they show the Impressionists’ interest in capturing the same scenes in different weather and lighting.
Renoir, Dance at Bougival (1883). Renoir is known for his focus on the human form. Although the dancers are clearly (yet softly) drawn, look for the typical light, diffused Impressionist brushstrokes in the sky and trees in the background of the painting.
Degas, Ballet Dancer with Arms Crossed (1872). This unfinished painting is typical of Degas’ portrayals of dancers. I love the peek into how he outlined his works, and how you can see Degas playing with light in the detailed shading on her face and chest.
Mary Cassatt, In the Loge (1878). Mary Cassatt was American and a woman—maybe that’s why she’s my favorite Impressionist. This painting is a lot of fun because while this woman uses her opera glasses to inspect another theatergoer, you can see her being watched from across the loge.
Do you have a favorite Impressionist painting? Share it with us in comments!
That’s all for today. Hope everyone is having a restful weekend.
Cordelia