Impressionist art is a very important school in Europe. From the social background, the whole historical process of France in the19th century influenced Europe. From 1789, the French bourgeois revolution, Napoleon came to power, 1830 and 1840, Napoleon failed. 1848 The bourgeois revolution took place and France experienced bourgeois democracy. To 1870, the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune Revolution. In fact, it also marks the historical process of Europe in the19th century, and marks a new stage of historical development. In terms of artistic development, European art in the19th century was also developed under the influence of France. /kloc-in the 0 th and 9 th centuries, there were four major art movements in France. The "revolutionary classicism" from the end of 2008 to the beginning of 2009 was accompanied by the French bourgeois revolution represented by David. "Revolutionary classicism" is to express and express the ideals of modern people by wearing the costumes of ancient people. In the history of art, there are often two forms of innovation movement, one is to overthrow the old tradition, and the other is to innovate in the form of retro. During the Renaissance in 15 and 16 centuries, citizens wore Greek and Roman costumes to express their wishes. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, so did revolutionary classicism, which used the artistic resources of the Greek and Roman Renaissance to create art. 2.65438+In 1930s and 1940s, "Romantic" art represented by Delacroix appeared. Unlike classicism which emphasizes rationality, romanticism emphasizes passion and imagination. These two kinds of art are different in theme, subject matter, language and expression, and the debate between Delacroix and Angel is also fierce. 3. Realism appeared after Romanticism, which advocated paying attention to reality and expressing social life at that time. Represented by Courbet and Miller. They describe the lives of workers, farmers and citizens. Their technique is realism, which is different from romanticism in emphasizing imagination, using medieval themes and historical themes, and dramatizing historical themes. Realism is to observe and experience life calmly and show the authenticity of life. Impressionism came into being in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Second, the nature and causes of the Impressionist movement
This movement has been going on for nearly twenty years. Because of its innovation, it greatly promoted the modernist art in the 20th century. It is true that modernist art in the 20th century was anti-impressionism in some respects, but impressionism opened up an artistic channel and was a transitional stage between classical art forms and modern art forms. It has a subtle connection with classicism, but it belongs to the category of modern art. So when we talk about western modernism, we should first mention Impressionism.
The name Impressionism came into being unintentionally, which is a derogatory comment on an oil painting "Impression of Sunrise" exhibited by Monet at the first Impressionist Art Exhibition in 1874. They think that these painters can't draw, but only draw impressions. But impressionist painters accepted the word, and their exhibition was later called impressionist exhibition. They were unknown artists at first, and their paintings were repeatedly rejected by official salons, including the already famous MANET. Impressionism, the use of light and color greatly influenced MANET, and MANET's art influenced impressionist young people. Manet's The Boy Playing the Flute is a very important work in this exhibition of China Art Museum.
The direct cause of impressionism is the repression and suppression of young people by official salons, which is the superficial reason. In fact, social reasons are the internal reasons. First of all, the rise of the civil class, the change of artistic aesthetic taste, and the demand of civil families for decorative or formal aesthetic painting. The bourgeoisie is a new class in the19th century. From poverty to wealth, they are unprepared for literature and art. They are materially rich, but what about spiritual and cultural needs? They are unfamiliar with traditional things and new things, but they have an inherent demand for artists to serve them. They need artworks to decorate their families. However, their aesthetic needs are different from those of aristocrats and academics, so art has quietly begun to change and adapt to new needs. But the bourgeoisie can't understand this new art quickly, so not only impressionism, but also Miller, is not appreciated by the bourgeoisie. So their paintings sell very cheaply, and Miller's paintings can be exchanged for a bottle of wine. Impressionist paintings don't sell. At that time, the main buyers of impressionist paintings were the United States and Russia. Therefore, there are many impressionist art collections in Elmy Tashi Museum, Boston Museum, Museum of Modern Art and some private art galleries.
Impressionist paintings are basically small and medium-sized, which can be hung by the bourgeoisie as decoration or in their own living rooms, giving people a pleasing feeling. There are only two factors that affect the audience in a work of art, one is the content, and the other is the aesthetic feeling of form. From the perspective of classical art, the former is more important, and the art that pays attention to aesthetic feeling actually contains social significance. The emerging impressionist art is the latter.
Thirdly, the formal source of impressionist art.
The official source of impressionist art is the influence of barbizon School. 65438+During the 1930s and 1940s, some painters lived in barbizon, a suburb of Paris, including Miller. They painted the farmers in the countryside, the scenery in the countryside and what they saw directly, which is different from the real life painted by Courbet. This way of sketching directly outdoors has just begun and has not yet formed an atmosphere. But it has great enlightenment to young artists. This makes them realize that the beauty of art is around them, and the beauty of art does not need to be found in distant ancient times, but the reality contains beautiful factors. This is also a very important ideological form foundation that Impressionism can produce. So the name Impressionism is accidental, and the artistic movement of Impressionism is inevitable.
Impressionist art is influenced by Japanese ukiyo-e painting, and attaches importance to the plainness, decoration and freehand brushwork of painting. The exhibition of Japanese prints in the World Expo opened the eyes of French artists, who fell in love with Japanese paintings at first sight, especially some young painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Sisley and later Van Gogh and Gauguin. Japanese ukiyo-e paintings are hung in Monet's apartment. These artists not only collect Ukiyo-e paintings, but also paint Japanese clothes, handicrafts and Ukiyo-e paintings into their own paintings, such as Monet's Painting of Zola, with a semi-Ukiyo-e painting as the background. But it is meaningful that it is not the exquisite Ukiyo-e paintings that have a great impact on French society and French art, but the last works. If the complete paintings of China literati in Ming and Qing Dynasties were sent to the French exhibition at that time, the impact would be unimaginable. Western painting emphasizes perspective and three-dimensional space, which is the principle of classicism and limits the decorative and formal beauty of painting. Ukiyo-e painting brings flat expression space to art, which can make brushwork and color more free and rich, thus strengthening the decorative function of painting. This is the inspiration of impressionist painters, who can draw things on canvas in a freehand way, changing the principles of classical painting.
The role of scientific and technological progress in painting. The analysis of light color in physics promotes the change of painting color and inspires artists. Artists use optical principles to create, and it can be said that the greatest success of Impressionism lies in the invention and creation of light and chromatics. In the past, oil paintings were mainly in brown and gray tones, but now they are bright, colorful and bright. Before Impressionism, painters mainly painted indoors and sketched outdoors. So there is no outdoor light in the painting. Now, impressionist painters put easels outdoors to capture the instantaneous light, which led to a series of changes in painting. This change is not only at the technical level, but also at the conceptual level, that is, the freedom of art. Art has changed from "what to draw" to "how to draw", which is also a topic of constant debate in the history of world art. Impressionism tells us that "what to draw" is not important, but "how to draw" is important. This is an achievement of Impressionism, which has caused a formal change in the history of art, making art constantly updated in patterns and making artistic expressions more diverse. The neglect of "what to draw" turns the emphasis on the eternal beauty of objective images into the beauty of moments and fragments, which is also the weakness of impressionism.