1874 15 From April to May 15, a group of independent young painters, including Monet, Renoir, pissarro, Sisley, Cezanne, Degas, Keoman and Bei Mo Lisuo, held a joint exhibition in Natal Photo Studio, No.35, Sister Gabuqi Road, which became a famous exhibition. According to one of Monet's works (Impression, Sunrise) published in Noisy magazine on April 25th, reporter Lelua derisively called the exhibitor an impressionist painter.
This word has been accepted by painters themselves, and it is popular and popular all over the world. However, its definition is inaccurate, and its significance in technology, aesthetics and philosophy varies widely with different authors. Critics elevate vivid ideals into a system, thus replacing the impressionism spontaneously formed by painters with their theoretical impressionism. In addition, all kinds of anti-impressionism performances swarmed in, which made the boundaries more rigid and distorted the scope. Therefore, it is difficult for people to rediscover the real artistic atmosphere of the school and correctly point out the breadth of this artistic movement, which not only updates the observation method, but also updates the whole modern sense, bringing so many different painters together. Each of these painters completed his career with his unique talent, and the basic principles of Impressionism promoted the free expression of painters' talent. Here, we can review these principles through a short history.
Impressionist painters were born in 1830- 184 1 year: pissarro was the oldest, born in 1830, Manet was born in 1832, and Degas was born in 1834. These young innovators from all directions gathered in Paris at 1860. At that time, pissarro, Cezanne and Chiyoman were in the Swiss Painting Academy, and Monet, Renoir, Basil and Sisley were in Greer's studio. However, they soon left there, went to Fontainebleau Forest, and began to paint with barbizon's strong naturalistic style. Then, they went to the harbor of the Seine and the coast of the English Channel, for which Duke Mornu made great efforts.
During 1860- 1870, they became the cradle of impressionism. In an environment full of light and water, Monet established him after contacting two instructors, Pudding (1824- 1898) and Jongkind (1819-1891year). Cezanne was bound by romanticism, while Degas was ruled by classicism. Neither of them participated in this pre-impressionism. As for Manet, due to the modern characteristics of his theme and the successful scandal caused in Salon of Losers (1863), it may be a helpless move to become the liaison banner of the youth painting party in Gebowa Cafe.
1869, Monet and Renoir from Courbet came to Boile and painted the same Ganuye pier. In the constant noise atmosphere, ships and colorful costumes crowded there, glittering scales shining through the dense leaves on the fluctuating river. In order to reflect the vitality and joy of this scene, they constantly strengthened their expressive force and naturally discovered the technical principles of the future impressionism: color separation and color shining. Thus, a new observation method was born, which did not come from a theory, but from the observation of nature and the sunshine bathed on the steep banks of the Seine. Of course, they haven't decided on a consistent style until 1873. However, the novelty of their initial success will never be surpassed.
Just when the research of this group of painters began to take shape, the war of 1870 scattered them in all directions. Manet, Renoir, Degas and Basil went to war, and Basil was killed in the battle of Bernala Roland. Monet, pissarro and Sisley fled to London, and Dubbini introduced them to the painter Tommy Tam Lewers who later became their main defender. The imitation of Turner and constable's works greatly accelerated their technological evolution. 1872, Monet created new landscape paintings of external light in Argente and pissarro in Pontoise. One is the vast and magnificent cosmic scene, lingering in the change of water, attracting Renoir, Sisley and Manet. The other poem is "The Land Farm", which cares more about constructive factors and inspires Cezanne and Chiyoman.
1873, when degas accepted Manet's and Cezanne's bright painting styles, and had his own unique field, the impressionist style was popularized and fully displayed. The broken strokes required for the reflection of water are also applied to all components of trees, houses, sky, mountains and landscapes. Tones are orderly and bright, and colors appear in shadows. Koro's gray and brown, which are used as intermediate transition colors, give way to solid colors that are coordinated or contrasted due to the mixing of light according to the complementary color law. The consistency of views also brings the unity of skills, and the praise and attention to light has become the principle that dominates everything, so that the outline, sense of volume, light and shade and too trivial details are abandoned. They maintain the vividness of the whole composition with an open style that shows themselves in the "atmosphere", and the picture has an unfinished feeling that makes contemporary people unhappy.
Sylvester skillfully distinguished the personalities of three pure landscape painters: "Monet is the most dexterous and fearless, Sisley is the most harmonious and meticulous, and pissarro is the most authentic and simple". Renoir brought the characters into the sun. 1874, except MANET's loyalty to Sharon, the whole impressionism angered the public and was severely insulted and ridiculed. Bourdieu, a rare critic who defended them, confirmed their two wishes: "Realism full of external light in method and clear first impression in emotion." Subsequently, until 1886, they held six joint exhibitions. 1876, Dulanty published a meaningful article "New Paintings", which keenly analyzed the direction of these young painters: "They intuitively decomposed sunlight into light and its components, and then recombined and unified through the overall harmony of the iridescence they spread on the screen".
1877 may be the year when Impressionism reached its peak and shined in an unprecedented way. At Renoir's suggestion, George Revere published a tabloid "Impressionist Painter" on the occasion of the third exhibition of Impressionism. In the newspaper, he wisely and enthusiastically commented on the efforts of his friends: "Painting a theme for color, not for the theme itself, is what distinguishes impressionist painters from other painters." This emphasizes the independence of painting, and the gaze on "sketching objects" replaces the academic significance of "themes" determined by tradition, history and bourgeois customs. A tree, a hut, a corner of the landscape, divorced from time and space, has become the source of universal values. Painting is coupled with its own content in its own object, without any external revelation. 1878, Dire's pamphlet Impressionist Painter was published, which, together with Dulanty's articles, was regarded as a comprehensive study of the school.
1880, Monet, Renoir and Sisley refused to participate in the fifth impressionist art exhibition, which caused their personality and aesthetic crisis. Ten years after it was completely despised, it produced outstanding works. Just when it began to be recognized, it could not continue to exist with spontaneous ideals. Its founders finally parted ways after maturity, but they remained loyal to the same superstition that brought them close to each other: nature and freedom.
1883, MANET's death gave birth to Impressionism, but opposed its new generation (Seurat, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Lautrec), which happened to be the time when Impressionism was completely split regardless of Durand Lewers's mediation. After the geographical dispersion (pissarro in errani, Monet in giverny, Sisley in Saint Ma Mei, Cezanne in Aix, Renoir constantly shuttling between Paris and other places, and finally settled in Provence), aesthetic parting darts followed. Leonaro Venturi, one of the experts who know this genre best, thinks that "Monet tends to symbolism of light and color, while pissarro is attracted by pointillism, Cezanne concentrates on composition, while Sisley finds a kind of relaxation in his own painting style".
If Renoir and Cezanne, because of their unique talents, can quickly control themselves and gain a foothold, and move forward non-stop, and finally achieve perfection, Monet, Sisley and pissarro, three landscape painters who are more directly related to Impressionism and more difficult to control, have encountered various twists and turns. They are caught in a dilemma, affectation and pursuit of decorative interest, and can no longer obtain the perfect balance and spontaneity they had when they were young. Their technology sometimes becomes vulgar, giving people the impression that Jiang Lang is at the end of its rope. Of course, they still have many masterpieces. However, systematic spiritual, literary and scientific influences often offset their intuition. After 1895, pissarro recovered his amazing creativity. His last masterpiece, like Monet, Renoir and Cezanne, became a great and far-reaching contribution of Impressionism: the breath of the universe, the vibration of light, and the direct feeling of facing nature.
Therefore, Impressionism is not a school with a solid program and strict teacher-student relationship like the academic school of 1660, but a school with the same interests as some young painters who have no worries but are full of feelings. This is a vivid experiment and a moment of friendship and fraternity. They suddenly discovered this world, which is quite vast and novel, and everyone can learn from it freely. Because they don't come from a theory, they paint completely freely, and they also oppose all traditional "laws". If it is said that during the period from 1860 to 1870, almost all senior painters, regardless of their different natures, were close to and connected with each other, and contributed to the formation of the so-called "impressionism", it was not because they gradually followed some unified principles and some technical know-how, but precisely because Manet, led by him, eagerly followed everything in his contact with nature and life. "This is a sincere feeling; Give the work a protest feature, "Manet said. "At that time, painters thought of expressing their impressions. They seek to be themselves, not others. " In fact, impressionist painters are attracted by their unique intuition and can only find ways with their sincerity. Because each of their works is not the result of "proficiency", but a "creative" action, they all participate in and develop painting again. Everything in the world will not be static, nor will it be solidified and graded. Therefore, every look will be fresh, and every detail will add color to the beauty in sports. This kind of freedom inevitably offends the fixed rigid view of the Academy of Fine Arts (the expression of social rigidity).
However, we feel that the practice of impressionism is more and more faithful to explore the light in reality and naturally combine with the painting tradition since the Renaissance. In the era of Courbet's dominant influence, impressionist painters all started from the tradition of realism to strengthen this tradition until it was overthrown and became today's non-realism. Although they let us see a more real image of the world, or we hope it is more real than objective data, we must exclude the methodological ideas that appear purely in the scientific requirements of new impressionism and see that they are not inheritance but opposition. Realistic painting is based on knowledge and arranges feelings according to knowledge, that is to say, it stays in the traditional framework: respecting the outline, anatomy and perspective, with the main purpose of realizing the relationship between light and shade. Impressionism is opposite to realism, and its unified painting style is based on personal intuition and hobbies, excluding all theoretical materials. The outside world has lost its binding force, turned into an anti-naturalistic color, turned into a painter's music keyboard, and turned into a "theme" that can be sung at will.
Here, we naturally think of Delacroix, but the freedom of impressionism is more powerful and richer than that of romanticism. Romanticism does contain too many puzzles and fantasies, too many external factors that are often influenced, and too many absurd literary hints, while Impressionism liberates painting from romantic literary passion and realistic social rhetoric and returns to the original purity. This kind of painting, which was won through heroic struggle and maintained its independence, also showed the spirit of the times, became a wave of integrity, sincerity, individual liberation and social equality, endowed the poor with the greatest human dignity, and found poetic meaning in the most local themes and the most insignificant daily life-the indiscriminate fraternity of sunshine. It opposes "choice", nobility and particularity, "conclusion" and Sharon's hierarchical caliber and hypocritical elegance.
From the aesthetic point of view, this sunny period is related to the progress of optics, the continuous strengthening of visual supremacy and the free development of spirit, which conforms to the humanitarian requirements of this century. Xia Jiaer's "sunshine-freedom" made painters of the whole century flock to France to look for it, which was the ideal of impressionism in its heyday. Although we can easily determine the main Nordic origin of Impressionism, the formation process of personal communication, its prosperity, twists and turns, limitations, representative figures and the connection with contemporary science and thought by separating Monet's main development trend of external light, it should be affirmed that even in the most consistent 1870- 1880 period, all of them are always related. Neo-impressionism, symbolism and expressionism, because I belong to impressionism to a great extent, and their opposition to impressionism is particularly fierce. But from 1860 to 1900, after all, there is a broad spiritual unity that spans complex nature and factions, marking a whole era, and people have every reason to name it the impressionist era. In this era, because of the unprecedented talent aggregation, painting has gained complete independence and freedom, and at the same time, it has provided the most authentic and moving testimony for the life and profound wishes of this era.