“Monet in his studio boat,” Edouard Manet
How does this work follow impressionist style?
What painting techniques did artist use?
As Manet was influenced by old masters his manner of work seems to have some inclination towards realism. It would be correct to say that in this work Edouard Manet used a technique called “Alla Prima” that meant placing pieces of paint for the audience to see. He was actually the one to popularize it among future impressionists. However, despite the fact that Manet wanted to stay aside from the movement, I think the painting looks the most like an impressionist work.
What social issued does the painting address?
It is not quite clear what social issues does the painting address. What we know is that Claude Monet was on the verge of bankruptcy and his friend/mentor – Manet came to his rescue and while he came to lend a hand, he painted this work. It can be said that the scenery is rather traditional for impressionism since it depicts how two people spend their leisure time.
“The Tub”, Edgar Degas
What formal quality did the artist explore?
As his sight began to fail him, Edgar Degas turned to pastel and later to sculpture. The artist has a series of nude pastel, where he portrays female body at different angles. Mostly from behind. His passion for this type of work probably comes from his academic past where he used to draw from models. However, like in others, in his other nude pastel “The Tub” Edgar Degas demonstrates a woman at an unusual angle. Unlike impressionist, Degas uses lines to contour objects and to emphasize shades. He had no intentional to idealize the woman but just to portray a certain moment. The use of objects in the painting creates depth and perspective. Like, a table with bathing accessories take almost one-third of the painting but thus the artist shows us the size of the space and proportion of an unusual balance.
How did his medium contribute to the appearance of his work?
Impressionism is all about capturing the light in a kind of pastel, eye-pleasing manner. Edgar Degas was the one of the artists to literally use pastel to create his works. While it should have created additional lightness, his use of lines balanced it out. With the use of pastel, Degas seemed to free his pictures from all that is unimportant and with the use of contour portray the elegant plasticity of the female body. Then using shades and different colors he placed accents on the image.
What Modernist interest does he investigate?
This period of Degas’s work tells us about his artistic sympathies of those years: Japanese prints and photography were in vogue at that time if France. Degas borrowed some ideas of performance from Japanese prints, such as flatness, localization of color, and clear wire frame. As for photography, the master seems to have borrowed his asymmetric composition, unusual angles and a surprising crop of edges from it.
“Vision after the Sermon”, Paul Gauguin
What fundamental difference exists between Gauguin and the Impressionists?
It would probably be easier to say what is similar between Gauguin’s painting and impressionism. They both use oil on canvas. Well, facetiousness aside, there are several principal differences that set this work apart from impressionist art movement. First of all, value and intensity of colors – a pattern that draws attention immediately in Gauguin’s picture. Use of red is almost aggressive and it sets the mood for the painting in general. Secondly, from the image, we understand that the scene takes place in the daylight, but there are no traces of light. While in traditional impressionism use of color is mild and gentle and sense of light – almost palpable. Another essential thing that distinguishes “Vision after the Sermon” from impressionist paintings is the use of symbolism. Gauguin’s work uses many hidden and obvious signs while the main idea behind impressionism was to capture a moment in time with no subtext. Also, Gauguin did not use individual strokes to create the image but blended colors as it is done in traditional paintings. To finish, impressionists usually worked on plein-air to capture the true bright nature of things, while as we can see from the “Vision after the Sermon” it was rather created in artist’s mind.
Why did Gauguin move to Pont-Avent?
At first, Paul Gauguin moved to Pont-Avent, because life there was cheaper and he wanted to take a break from the fussiness of Paris life. However, as he stayed there, he not only fell in love with the scenery but also met like-minded artists who shared his passion for symbolism. Their affection eventually gave birth to Pont-Avent School. Between 1886 and 1890 Paul Gauguin spent almost all of his time in Pont-Avent.
How does he reject both Realism and Impressionism in his painting?
Paul Gauguin spent his life searching for his personal style, trying various techniques as he evolved as an artist. Inspired by Impressionism, at first, he soon distanced himself away from the movement. If we simply look at this picture, we can see that it has very little if any in common with impressionism. For the reasons, I have mentioned, answering the first question about Gaugin. Now, the angle of the view, features of women, colors – they all advocate against realism. In realism pictures, nature, people, objects look very close to real life, as if they were photographed. However, Gauguin’s picture looks more like an allegory.
References
Monet Painting in his Studio Boat, 1874 by Edouard Manet. Retrieved on 10 March 2016 from
http://www.manet.org/monet-painting-in-his-studio-boat.jsp\
Debra N. Mankoff. Paintings by Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas. Retrieved on 9 March 2016 from
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/paintings-by-hilaire-germain-edgar-degas10.htm
Herban, M.. (1977). The Origin of Paul Gauguin's Vision after the Sermon: Jacob Wrestling with
the Angel (1888).The Art Bulletin, 59(3), 415–420. http://doi.org/10.2307/3049673
