Monday 28 September 2015

Impressionism

Impressionism
-modern life
- applying science
-painting quickly 
- exhibitions

Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s. 
Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities, ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.  
The Impressionists faced harsh opposition from the conventional art community in France. The name of the style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression.
 Historical subjects, religious themes, and portraits were valued; landscape and still life were not like previously.

The term 'Impressionist' was first used as an insult in response to an exhibition of new  paintings in Paris in 1874. A diverse group of painters, rejected by the art establishment, defiantly set up their own exhibition . They included Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and Degas. 

Landscapes, and scenes from modern urban and suburban life painted in bright, pure colours are typical. Impressionist often began (and sometimes completed) their paintings outdoors rather in a studio. Their rapidly applied brushstrokes are often visible.

Characteristics of the Impressionist painter were:
- visible brushstrokes
- artists often used oils
- open competition
-emphasis of light and its changing
- ordinary subject matter
- movement of subject


Paul Cezanne

He was a French artist. 
Cezanne is the bridge artist from the Impressionist to the Cubists. 
In the 'House of Hanged man' and  'Portrait of Victor Choque, he painted directly from the subject and employed, short, loaded brushstrokes- characteristic of the Impressionist style as well as the works of Monet, Renoir and Pissarro. 
Cezanne's paintings from the last three decades of his life established new paradigms for the development of modern art. Working slowly and patiently, the painter transformed the restless power of his earlier years into the structuring of a pictorial language that would go on to impact nearly every radical phase of 20th century art.

Basket of Apples


Claude Monet

Monet was a French artist.
He was a founder of French Impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. 
Monet's ambition of documenting the French countryside led him to adopt a method of painting the same scene many times in order to capture changing of light and the passing of the seasons. 
He used a really interesting thing one of his painting, he put sand in an oil painting- The beach of Tronville. 


Water Lilies


Pierre Auguste Renoir

He started out as an apprentice to a porcelain painter and studied drawing in his free time. 
He and some of his friends, including Pissarro, Monet, Cézanne and Edgar Degas, decided to show their works on their own in Paris in 1874, which became known as the first Impressionist exhibition.
Renoir, like other Impressionists, embraced a brighter palette for his paintings, which gave them a warmer and sunnier feel. He also used different types of brushstrokes to capture his artistic vision on the canvas.
 His 1878 painting, "Madame Charpentier and her Children," was featured in the official Salon of the following year and brought him much critical admiration.
Besides leaving behind over two hundred works of art, Renoir served as an inspiration to so many other artists—Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso are just a few who benefitted from Renoir's artistic style and methods.


Edgar Degas

Painter and sculptor Edgar Degas was a highly celebrated 19th century French Impressionist whose work helped shape the fine art landscape for years to come.
He was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. He is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, although he rejected the term, preferring to be called a realist.
 His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.
Recognized as an important artist in his lifetime, Degas is now considered "one of the founders of Impressionism. Though his work crossed many stylistic boundaries, his involvement with the other major figures of Impressionism and their exhibitions, his dynamic paintings and sketches of everyday life and activities, and his bold color experiments, served to finally tie him to the Impressionist movement as one of its greatest artists.
Degas's paintings, pastels, drawings, and sculptures are on prominent display in many museums, and have been the subject of many museum exhibitions and retrospectives. 






Monday 21 September 2015

Renaissance

The Renaissance means rebirth.
Renaissance marks the period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the Modern world. It represents a culture rebirth from 14th century through the middle of the 17th centuries. Early Renaissance , mostly in Italy, bridges the art period during the15th century,  between the Middle Ages and the High Renaissance in Italy.
The spiritual content of painting changed - subjects  from Roman history and mythology were borrowed. Devotional art of Christian orientation became classically humanized.
Two regions of Western Europe were particularly active during this artistic period: Flanders and Italy.

Artists

Sandro Boticello 1445-1510
Boticello was born in Florence, the son of a tanner.
He served an apprenticeship with the painter Fra Filippo Lippi and worked with the painter and engraver Antonio del Pollaiuolo.
Boticello had his own workshop by 1470. He worked for the Medici family.
He  painted religious subjects, especially panels of the Madonna. In 1481 Boticello was one of several artists chosen to go to Rome to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.
One of his works:  Birth of Venus
Birth of Venus

Sistine Chapel 

Giovanna Bellini 1426-1516
Born in Venice.
In his  paintings, figures, space, architecture and sometimes landscape were balanced with seemingly effortless perfection to achieve a complex but harmonious image of serene grandeur.
Bellini's historical importance is immense. In his 65-year evolution as an artist, he bought Venetian painting from provincial backwardness into the forefront of Renaissance and the mainstream of Western art.
One of his works: Feast of the Gods


Jan Van Eyck 1385-1441
He was a 15th Century Early Netherlands painter.
He achieved, or perfected, new and remarkable effects using oil paints.
One of his works: The Arnolfini Wedding


Leonardo Da Vinci 1452-1519
He was a Florentine artist, one of the great masters of the High Renaissance, who was also celebrated as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer and scientist.
He was born in a small Tuscan town of Vinci. In Florence he was given the best education that Florence could offer.
Some of his works: The  Last Supper
                                   Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa: Leonardo's most famous work, is as well known for its mastery of technical innovations as for the mysteriousness of its legendary smiling subject.
This work is a consummate example of two techniques- sfumato and chiaroscuro- of which Leonardo was one of the first great masters.

Saturday 19 September 2015

Ideas and Concepts in Art and Design

Universal Themes in Art

- The human figure
- Environment
- Flora and Fauna
- Events
- The Fantastic and Strange
- The Abstract

The human figure
- identity and relationship
- personal identity
- self-portaiture
- homage and influance

The human figure is one of the most enduring themes in visual art. The human figure or human form in art sculpture and  other art forms involves a  study and appreciation of the beauty of the human body in its depiction or presentation.
A really good example for the human figure is Michelangelo's David.

Environment
- natural and made
- inside and outside
- localities and journeys
- the elements: water, air, soil etc.

Flora and Fauna
- observing and recording living things
- at one with nature
- still life's
Flora: the corresponding term for plants
Fauna: all of the animal life of any particular region or time

Fantastic and Strange
- myth, metamorphosis and dreams
- mythical beasts
- atmospheric myths
- abstract shapes and visionary events
- reality and metamorphosis

The abstract
- abstract  design in the environment
- hidden geometry
- colour and mood
- surface texture
- symmetry and balance

Friday 18 September 2015

Hello

Hello, I'm Virag. It is my art blog, here will be many interesting art history posts and my art works as well.