Understanding Art - Impressionism

Today Impressionist art is found on T-shirts and mugs, but it wasn’t always popular. London Sunday Timesart critic Waldemar Januszczak hosts a lively guide to these revolutionary and influential artists, visiting their studios and the rustic vistas that inspired them. A super introduction to Monet, Manet, Degas, Seurat, Cézanne, Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassat, Van Gogh, and other greats.

The Gang of Four

Radical change was in the air—and on the canvas. As Paris underwent massive social and architectural shifts, Claude Monet, Pi erre-Auguste Renoir, J ean Frédéric Bazille,and Camille Pissarro broke artistic ground with unconventional portraits of pleasure spots and unlikely landscapes. Their inaugural 1874 exhibition threw down the gauntlet to the salons.

The Great Outdoors

Toting folding easels and compact paint boxes, impressionists trekked where no artists had gone before, but their trips to city and country weren’t carefree jaunts. Monet risked drowning to paint the coast of Étretat, Renoir deftly navigated the social currents of the Moulin de la Galette, and Paul Cézanne inverted landscape perspective.

Painting to the People

Impressionism wasn’t all sunny landscapes. The “ballet rats” inhabiting Edgar Degas’s luminous pastels pulsed with vitality, while Gustave Caillebotte’s Floor Scrapers(1875) portrayed laborers for the first time. Female artists also emerged: Berthe Morisot dazzled with vibrant brushstrokes, and Mary Cassatt, an American, plumbed her subjects’ psyches.

The Final Flourish

GeorgesSeurat married optical science with artistic inspiration in 1884’s La Grande Jatte, whose countless dots combine colors in innovative ways. In Montmartre, Vincent van Gogh marveled at Japanese prints, and in the early 20th century, Monet overcame failing sight to complete his sprawling Water Lilies.

Vincent: The Full Story

This three-part documentary tells the story of the famed Dutch artist’s rise from humble origins as a preacher’s son to one of the most famous artists in history. The program illuminates Van Gogh’s lesser-known biographical details, including his failed stints as an art dealer and a missionary, and his friendships with fellow artists Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Gauguin. (146 min.)

Manet: The Man Who Invented ModernArt

Édouard Manet lit the fuse that set off the impressionism explosion. Born into a prominent family, the Parisian artist ruffled feathers with his loose brushstrokes and portrayal of casual nudity in 1863’s Luncheon on the Grass. As he broached taboo subjects, he set the stage for modern art.

Upplagd i sortimentet: 23 Oktober, 2012