Modern Art

• Art mirrored life in the community, society and the world in all its colors, lines, shapes and forms.
•modern art witnessed amazing scientific discoveries, inventions and drastic socio-cultural changes.
•artist experience more freedom in the choice of subject matter and the use of mediums. The wide variety
of artistic styles also requires the viewer new ways of understanding art.
•the decades from 1900 to the present have seen the human race living in an ever shrinking planet. The
20th century saw a boom in interchange of ideas, beliefs, values and lifestyles that continues to bring the
citizens of the world closer together.

Technological Breakthroughs
•the world zoomed into the electronic age in the mid 1900’s then into the present cyberspace age.
Social, Political and Environmental Changes
•there has been migration across the globe, allowing different cultures, languages, skills and even physical
characteristics of different races to intermingle like never before.
Effects on the World of Art
•the art movements of the late 19th century to the 20th century captured and expressed all these and
more. Specifically, these were the movements known as impressionism and expressionism.
•these were the exciting precursors of the modern art of the 21st century.
Impressionism
•was an art movement that emerged in the second half of the 19th century among a group of Paris-based
artist.
•the duration of the impressionist movement itself was quite short, less than 20years from 1872 to the
mid-1880s.but it had a tremendous impact and influence on the painting styles that followed such as neo-
impressionism, post-impressionism, fauvism and cubism and even the artistic styles and movement of
today.
•the name impressionism was coined from the title of a work by French painter Claude Monet impression,
soleil levant (in English impression Sunrise).
The influence of Delacroix
•as with all emerging movement, impressionism owed its inspiration to earlier masters.
•One major influenced was the work of Eugene Delacroix painting.
•he was greatly admired and em7ulated by the early impressionist- specifically for his use of expressive
brushstrokes, his emphasis bon movement rather than on clarity of form and most of all his study of the
optical effects of color.
•Delacroix painting The Baroque of Dante in 1822. It contained a revolutionary technique that would
profoundly influence the coming impressionist movement and it involved something as simple as droplets
of water.
•when studied closely it is seen that four different, unmixed pigments- yellow, green, red and white create
the image of each drop and shadow. These colors represent individual drops glistening with light. The
distinct colors blend to represent individual drops glistening with light. The distinct colors merge in the
eye of the viewer to appear monochromatic in this case of water droplets, colorless. In short an
impressionism.
Impressionism: A Break from Past Painting Tradition
Color and Light- the painting conventions and techniques of earlier art periods were very much concerned
with line, form and composition. In contrast the impressionist painted with freely brushed colors that
conveyed more of a visual effect than a detailed rendering of the subject.
“Everyday” Subjects- immersionist also began to break away from the creation of formally posed portraits
and grandiose depictions of mythical, literary, historical or religious subjects. They ventured to capture
scenes of life around them, household objects, landscape and seascapes, houses, cafes and buildings.
Painting Outdoors- the location in which the impressionist painted was also different, usually inside a
studio. However the impressionists found that they could best capture the ever changing effects of light
on color by painting outdoors in natural light.
Open Composition- impressionist painting also moved away from the formal structured approach to
placing and positioning their subjects. They experimented with unusual visual gels sizes of objects that
appeared out of proportion, off centered placement and empty spaces on the canvass.
The influence of Photography- it was in its early stages at this time as well. As it gained popularity,
photography inspired impressionist to capture fleeting movement of action, whether in landscapes or in
the day-to-day lives of people. They also had the advantage in manipulating color which photography at
the time still lacked.
Impressionism: Works of Manet, Monet and Renoir
Edouard Manet- (1832-1883) was one of the first 19th century artist to depict modern-life subjects. He
was a key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism, with a number of his works considered
as marking the birth of modern art.
•Argenteull (1874)-oil in canvas •Café Concert
•Rue mosnier, Decked with Flags • the bar at the follies-bergere
Claude Monet-(1840-1926) was one of the founders of the impressionist movement along with his friends
Auguste Renior, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille. He was the prominent of the group and is considered
the most influential figure in the movement. Monet best known for his landscape paintings, particularly
those depicting his beloved flower gardens and water lily ponds at his home in Germany.
•La promenade (1975) •Bridge over Pond of Water Lilies
•The Red Boats, Argenteuil •Irises in Monet’s Garden
Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) along with Claude Monet, was one of the central figures of the impressionist
movement. His early works were snapshots of real life, full of sparkling color and light. By the mid-1880s,
Renoir broke away from the impressionist movement to apply a more disciplined, formal technique to
portraits of actual people and figure paints.
•Dancer (1874) •Mile Irene Cahen d’anvers(1880)
•A girl With a Watering Can (1876) •Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881)