IMPRESSIONISM
A lost Art
By Hugh O'Neill
"I could only be myself once I had got rid of Impressionism " Renoir to Vollard..
This short piece is written by me to stir your interest in digging deeper into the style of painting you may employ.For beginners it may be of little use until you actually paint with me for a while.But sooner or later you should come back to this if you intend to paint in the style and techniques known as IMPRESSIONSIM.The most important part is simply read the quotes from the masters of the previous two centuries below .Some quotes are not positive directions but challenging statements to get you to find your own answers.
If you want to paint like an impressionist you must understand what the impressionists founders actually said about painting.That part has been a part of my life since University study in 1980s up to the present. I will be writing a book soon on the subject.
Are you surprised at the above statement by Renoir?I personally feel we have focused on philosophy over the actual craft for some years now. Allowing non painters who write art history books to govern the way a new student of painting pictures thinks about the techniques involved in the construction of a strong impressionistic work of art.
I will be sharing little known facts and info about this style of art and debunking the myths and fables surrounding the art form that you know as Impressionism.
I call (Impressionism) and utilize myself a method known as TONAL FORM.Its a method that was also used by Monet,Sargent,Gruppe etc
In 1874, a group of artists called the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc. organized an exhibition in Paris that launched the movement called Impressionism. Its founding members included Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro, among others. The group was unified only by its independence from the official Salon,The independent artists, despite their diverse approaches to painting, appeared to contemporaries as a group.The exhibiting collective group avoided choosing a title that would imply a unified movement at their exhibtions.Hece this. ....
"the impressionists study color exclusively but without freedom always shackled by the need of probabality.they heed only the eye and so fall into merely scientific reasoning.when they speak of art,what is it?a purely superficial thing,full of affections and only material.in it thought does not exist" Gaugin
Can Gaugin be placeFor me this seemingly negative comment is actually a good stepping stone to understanding the true mechanics of the painting in style d in the Impressionism camp, given what he really thought above ?
Here are some interesting remarks and art lessons by the masters
"the word "impressionism" as applied to art has been abused, and in the general acceptance of the term has become perverted " Childe Hassam
"You will see that this isn't in the least Impressionistic:dear me,all the worse then .I am doing what I am doing surrendering myself to nature,without thinking of this or that " Van Gogh in a Letter to Bernard in 1888“
Monet considered pissarro the father of the style but its amazing to read this.Matisse interviews Pissarro in 1885 .... here is a short snippet of that interview Matisse asks Pissarro who is the impressionist?
Pissarro"Cezanne is not an impressionist!"
Matisse"who is a typical impressionist ?
Pissarro"Sisley "
MONET’S PALETTE
Lead white (modern equivalent = titanium white)
Chrome yellow (modern equivalent = cadmium yellow light) Cadmium yellow Emerald green Cobalt blue French ultramarine Cobalt blue Madder red (modern equivalent = alizarin crimson) Vermilion
VAN GOGH'S PALETTE
Included yellow ocher, chrome yellow and cadmium yellow, chrome orange, vermilion, Prussian blue, ultramarine, lead white and or zinc white, emerald green, red lake, red ocher, raw sienna, and black
GAUGUIN’S PALETTE
Colors Gauguin regularly used included Prussian blue, cobalt blue, emerald green, viridian, cadmium yellow, chrome yellow, red ochre, cobalt violet, and lead or zinc white
These writings on Impressionism will be on separate pages soon within this web site
HUGH O'NEILL
|
