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Impressionism
Born out of the artists' desire to break away from the canons of the Academy, French Impressionist artists
Manet, Monet, and Renoir explored contemporary subjects and scenes in new and experimental ways. Major contributions of the
Impressionists include painting everyday life, they choice to paint en plein air, outdoors, instead of in the studio and most
importantly, the fleeting effects of light on a particular subject. These "impressions" of light became the primary subject
matter, especially for Monet. On the bridge between Realism and Impressionism is Edouard Manet. Born in Paris in 1832, he
preferred a more classical approach to painting. However, his subject matter in paintings such as Le Dejeuner Sur L'herbe and
Olympia gave him the reputation as a nonconformist. Manet places the Olympia we see in classical paintings in a contemporary
setting rather than an allegorical one and she looks directly at the viewer. The refusal of the salon to show these paintings
earned him the dubious title, "Father of Impressionism". Claude Monet is best known for his paintings of his garden at Giverny.
In the 1890's he began to build a water garden around his house. There he painted his famous water lily paintings. By 1909 he had
conceptualized an idea for a vast project of water lily canvases that would envelop an entire room. From 1916 almost until his
death he worked on these canvases. He spoke of this endeavor, "In the night I am constantly haunted by what I am trying to
realize. I rise broken with fatigue every morning." In these canvases perspective is reduced to the water lilies floating on the
surface of the water. Pierre Auguste Renoir's painting, Le Moulin de la Galette is a study in impressionism. The scene is of
working class people enjoying the leisure of a Sunday afternoon. The artist set up an easel right near the location and painted
from life. Renoir was especially concerned with the play of light and shadow as they danced across the surface of an object. The
fondness for impressionism exists today because these images capture forever the changing moments of time that we can all relate
to in our contemporary world.
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