Art History Lesson: Impressionists you've never heard of, part 1

If you've taken any kind of art class, whether it be studio art when you were 12 years old or "Art Appreciation 101" in university, you've definitely, without a doubt, heard of the French Impressionists.   I don't even want to know how many times I've sat through lessons about how urbanisation, industrialisation, photography, leisure time, democratization of society, Orientalism, and of course, a desire to break the traditional rules of Fine Art all came together to create probably the most widely-known art movement of all time.  Don't get me wrong, I adore this kind of art;  In fact, these are my favorite types of paintings to see in museums and galleries; Musée D'orsay will always be my favorite.  However, sometimes it's nice to learn something new, to see a fresh side of an otherwise over-exhausted subject.

That's why I was so pleasantly surprised to hear of an American Impressionist exhibition at Giverny's Musée des Impressionnismes (You can see my trip to Monet's garden at Giverny here).  When do you ever hear names like Cecilia Beaux,  William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, or John Henry Twachtman?  I spent  years of my life studying these things and never once heard their names, but I like to think that I'm continuing my education on my own.  You don't ever have to stop learning , thinking, and improving.



One artist that really stood out to me at this exhibition was John Henry Twachtman.  They had mainly his winter scenes, which at first glance appeared as dull, muddy canvases, but once I stopped for a few more seconds, I realised how beautifully stubtle the colours were.  Once I researched him on the internet at home, I saw that he actually was not afraid of color. I chose the works below for their use of color.

{May Morn, 1899, John Henry Twachtman, National Museum of American Art}

What always draws me into a painting are the colours.  It always fascinates me to find that shadows aren't gray - they're actually lavender, violet, deep turquoise, sea green, and cerulean blue; And highlights aren't just white - they're soft creams, tinted grays, feathery blues, and pastel pinks.  Once you're able to see that whites aren't really white, and blacks aren't actually black, art really transforms, and you may even start to see the variation in color and light in your daily life.

The other thing that really gets me, is the atmosphere Twachtman is able to create.  You can almost feel the morning fog over the river in the picture above, and the wintery chill in the air below.

{Winter, 1898, John Henry Twachtman}

These other ones I simply chose because of their beautiful colours.  Can you see the rainbow colours in the snow of the last image??  It's so cool!! Or is it just me who thinks that's amazing? :)

{Meadow Flowers (Golden Rod and Wild Aster), 1892, John Henry Twachtman, Brooklyn Museum, New York}

{The Cabbage Patch, 1890-93, John Henry Twachtman}

{Winter Landscape, John Henry Twachtman}

I would really love to make this into a series called "Art Lessons."  I have one more planned about Impressionists you've never heard of.  What do you think of this Art History series?  Would you read it?  Honest opinions please!



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Renoir and Baudelaire

While preparing one of my final exams for my Art and Literature class (yes, I got to prepare the final at home!), I had to find links between pieces of art and literature. Here is a link that I found in this Renoir painting, and in a few lines of a Baudelaire poem. Just look at the painting, read each line, and it's almost as if these lines are describing the scene directly! Pretty cool.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, La Grenouillère, 1869

A few lines from Baudelaire's Parisian Dream:
"and every color, even black,
became a lustrous prism;
liquid turned to glowing glass
and what was crystal flowed...
from within each thing was luminous."

I've never been a huge fan of poetry, but these lines are beautiful. What do you think about poetry?

Art History is Cool: Edgar Degas

This week, I've been at a loss for what to post. As I'm getting my bearings in the blogosphere, I've been brainstorming for new things to post about. I can do photography and style posts all I want, but in order to take it to the next level, I need something new, something unique! After reading these helpful tips, I realized I should take the advice and post about something I know and love: Art History!

As a few of you may know from the About Me post, I am a student of Art History, and I thought it would be cool (and if not cool, at least interesting) to make art history seem cool! If I succeed, bravo! If I fail, then at least I tried something new, and I'm fairly certain I'm one of the only style/photography bloggers out there who also blogs about Art History. So without further delay, here are Five Reasons Why Edgar Degas is Cool:

{ONE}
French Impressionism was revolutionary. Impressionists were like the hippies of the 19th century, and they literally changed art, the world even. You see, there was this governmental organization in France, called The Academy, that controlled nearly every aspect of art, how it should look, how it should be made, what subjects should be in it, etc. So to make a long story short, the Impressionists told The Academy to "take a hike," and look where they are now! Impressionism is probably the most well-known artistic movement in history aside from the Italian Renaissance. They took a stand, ignored all the rules, and created unprecedented and magnificent works of art.




{TWO}
Ballerinas. Enough said.




{THREE}
Look at that beautiful, saturated, unabashed color! They aren't blended well and they aren't realistic, and that's what conveys the energy of the dance so well.




{FOUR}
He "cropped" his images like snapshots. This was almost a criminal offense in "serious" art of the Academy. Back then, the critics saw this as sloppy, and certainly not worthy of being portrayed on canvas. Degas really showed them who's boss with that lady blocking our view.




{FIVE}
Degas wasn't afraid of empty space. He painted (although he often used pastels) that bare floor with no shame, and he wants you to notice it.



Image names and Dates, top to bottom:
Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage, Edgar Degas, 1874
Two Dancers, Edgar Degas, 1893-1898
Ballet Dancers on the Stage, Edgar Degas, 1883
Ballerina and Lady with a Fan, Edgar Degas, 1885
Ballet Rehersal, Edgar Degas, 1873