IMPRESSIONISM and 
POST IMPRESSIONISM

(1836 - 1908 C.E.)

​KEY IDEAS

  • Realism was based on the theory of being positive (positivism)
  • Japanese art had a profound impact on late 19th century painting.
  • Impressionist art is all about painting "en plein-air"
  • Symbolist painters seek to portray mystical personal visions.
  • The Skyscraper is a new type of building due to technological advances
  • Art Nouveau unifies painting, sculpture, and architecture with curvilinear lines and organic forms and motifs.
  • Artists were inspired by the past but rejected the tradtional subject matter.
  • Almost all artworks are purely secular with no religious symbolism or intent.

HISTORY

  • Europe was in a move from aristocracies to democracies = Revolutions in Sicily, Venice, Germany, Austria, and Lombardy. 
  • Franco-Prussian War of 1870
  • Concept of positivism fueled by Comte (knowledge must come from proven ideas based off science)
  • Darwin and Marx = Human evolution and social equality
  • Invention of telephones, motion pictures, bicycles, and cars!
  • The avant-garde
  • New excavation begins in Greece, Turkey, and Europe
CONTENT: What do you see?
FORM: The details (what you see more exactly). How the artist delivers the content.
CONTEXT: Everything NOT observable.
FUNCTION: The intended purpose of the work.

APAH 250 Images:

Impressionism:
116. The Saint-Lazare Station, Claude Monet 
* Impression, Sunrise, Water Lilies series (Hay Stacks)
* Degas – ballerinas/bathers
* Renoir – Le Moulin de la Galette, Luncheon of the Boating Party
121. The Coiffure, Mary Cassatt 
Post Impressionism:
120. The Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh
123. Where Do We Come From? What are we? Where are we going?, Paul Gauguin
125. Mont Saint-Victoire, Paul Cezane
*Please note there are A LOT of important artworks for this time period of the later 19th century. Obviously, we can't look at every artwork from every artist and many artists have several iconic/important works that move the art world into the next "-ism." I HIGHLY suggest not only watching and reading about artworks that are specific content area requirements for this class, but also for others as well. Spend the night looking at multiple van Gogh paintings, works by Monet, Cassatt, Gauguin, and Cezanne. ​

VOCABULARY

Aquatint
Avant-garde
Caricature
Drypoint
Japonisme
Lithography
Modernism
Plein-air
Positivism
Skeleton
​Zoopraxiscope

RESOURCES