Week 5 Blog Post

Caillebotte is an impressionist artist from the late 1800’s. Caillebotte was a man who went through many tragic things in his life. These emotions are easily expressed through his work. He was able to grasp separation and isolation in his pieces that portrayed a concept of modernity in his work. Through the pieces I examined I would think Caillebotte’s paintings were more of a critique of modern life. I believe Caillebotte’s view on the world was quite critical because of what he had been through and what his perspective was on the world. He let his paintings express the problems society faces and the emotions we are too scared to show. He shows images of labor, isolation, and expressionless faces.

             For this weeks post I had to choose Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street, Rainy Day, because while I write I’m listening to the storm going on outside my window. This brought a strong connection to this piece for me.  I tried stepping away from his better-known works, but I was continuously drawn back to this piece.

This piece displays Caillebotte’s way of isolating his figures. My focus did not go to the couple walking towards us initially. My attention went to the building in the background and the street that leads to it. I don’t believe the figures were his focal point in this image. They are casted to the side as if to be minor details in his work. The streets are bare although they have people walking around. There are no large groups of people, just pairs and lone walkers. We see these figures walking around the streets of Paris with umbrellas shielding them from the rain, although it’s the water building up in the cobblestone of the streets that portrays the weather. It seems like a dreary day, but even then the figures are dressed very nicely and going on with their day as if it were perfect weather to do so. I look at this painting and see these figures as putting on a mask. The weather shows the emotion of these figures, but they still put on a front of being ‘put together’. I guess this is how I see Caillebotte’s pieces being critical of the modern society. The people are fake, as if they are putting up a front for the society they live in.

Week 4 Blog Post

Monet and Manet both created two impressionist pieces from the eighteen hundreds that revolved around the celebrations that occurred in France after the defeat of 1870. The French government declared June 30, 1878, a national holiday. This date represented France's recovery from the War of 1870-1871. There was an opening of an international exhibition, which was cause for the streets of Paris to be covered with flags and crowded with people celebrating the event. During this time Monet and Manet were staying in Paris and were both inspired by the celebration in the streets. Monet stayed in the working class area of Les Halles where he placed himself on a balcony to paint his piece, whereas Manet chose to stay in the seventeenth arrondissement, a more elegant place to stay.

Right away I was able to see differences in these two pieces. One is energetic and more joyful than the other, which is more solemn and focused on a few figures. To compare the two I’m going to start with my favorite, and that was Claude Monet’s The Rue Montorgueil. This piece is so vibrant with colors you are able to feel the joy of celebration amongst the people. The patriotic flags strung all down the street with movement in them as if they are blowing with the wind. The clear blue skies with puffy white clouds sing with the joys from below them. Monet’s brushstrokes are energetic and strike the canvas with little detail, but just enough that the scene and emotions are clear.

Edouard Manet’s The Rue Mosnier with Flags is by far tamer than the bustling streets in Monet’s piece. His depiction of the festival seems to be set in the events that took place after the celebrations. The streets are bare with only a few people to be seen. The proportion that he shows of the streets is focused on a much smaller scale than Monet’s piece. The Rue Mosnier with Flags seems to be a more intimate piece than Monet’s was. I think the subject matter of these two pieces was where the biggest difference resided. In Monet’s the focus is on one man who I assume was a veteran of this war walking down the streets after or even before the celebration had/has taken place, then there are a few other figures sharing the streets with him, in carriage or on foot. The colors are also vibrant in this piece but seem to be more downplayed than in Monet’s piece.

Like all Impressionism pieces these two works of art have speratic brushstrokes and vibrant colors. When looking at this piece from a farther glance you are able to see the scene clearly. When stepping closer to the painting the brush strokes and colors become a mesh of everything rather than a clear scene.  Both these pieces show avant-garde in their impressionist styles. The brushstrokes and colors of the paints push the boundaries of the everyday painting we see with clear detail and elegant subject matter.  

Week 3 Blog Post

Impressionism was based in the 19^th century by a group of artists originating from Paris. The characteristics of impressionist paintings are the noticeable brush strokes. The strokes are very thin and small. The subject matter of these people usually included people of the city life involved in an everyday event.

Moulin De La Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renior is an impressionism piece that at first glance has so many different things going on. All the figures and actions drew me into this piece and I had to take a closer glance. The thin almost sporadic brush strokes, the faint coloring, the details in the figures. Initially when I looked at this piece I had a feeling of happiness and an overwhelming feeling towards their carefree world, just an eventful night in Paris. I chose to first look at the facial features of the figures in the scene. I noticed no smile being prominent in their features. I seemed as if this was a casual event that happened often amongst these people. Their faces showed content in their slight upturned lips. 

Another aspect I was drawn to in this piece was the classic attribute of the impressionist style, the brushstrokes. There were the noticeable brushstrokes with no real definition in the scene. Definition varied in the faces and throughout the scene. That is what I found interesting about this piece, all impressionist pieces for that matter. There are features lost in the brush strokes whereas in some figures, usually in the foreground, there are distinct features. The lines are thin and sporadically placed.

Like I had mentioned before when I first looked at this piece I thought it was a night in Paris. Taking a closer look I realized it’s in fact a party of upperclassmen taking place in the daytime. I noticed the shadows on the figures displaying the sunlight coming through the foliage above the party. I first thought theses were reflections from party lights strung across the sky. I also noticed in the left corner two children dancing amongst these upperclassmen. This brought a sense of innocence to the party and changed my thought of this piece being a flirtation of people at a business party to more laid back party of sorts where children’s company could be enjoyed.

The dimension of this piece shows various details. We see dancing men and woman in the foreground with slightly more distinct features, but as we look farther in the distance we see a mix of brush strokes that can barely be distinguished as more people. The colors fade together as one mass. I see scale come into the piece through the figures. The proportion of the figures whether in the foreground or background are proportionate to one another. Although as I looked farther into the scene I noticed one the figures began to bland together they all became on set size in the piece. The couple in the right hand upper corner for example seem to be sharing the same ground as the couple with their back turned in the middle of the painting, but they are noticeably smaller and show more detail than those figures around them. The mixture of softer almost pastel colors of purple, blacks, and blues. Colors of which almost gave me the impression of nighttime. Colors that on further looking in fact give the piece a soft, charming feel to the event that is taking place. Another thing that changed my view of this piece is when I started to notice the oranges and greens in piece. This discovery also changed the look of night to day. This is when I started noticing the richness in the colors.

Impressionism, to me, doesn’t take care to include great detail in its style. The artists of this time moved through their work taking more attention to the story of the piece rather than the distinguished lines. The brushstrokes are what I find more interesting. They are thin as if to make great details, but the noticeable strokes is what seems to bring the emotion into the painting. As if while the artist was painting their emotions took hold of the brush rather than the determination to be exact in every movement. We can feel what emotion the story holds through the lines of the figures. This particular piece for example displays joy and carelessness amongst these upperclassmen with out a concern in the world. 

Week 2 Blog Post

Gustave Courbet is seen as an “avant-garde” artist who created represented realism in his pieces. In Paris 1848 there were street fights going on which caused Gustave to become an advocate through his paintings. Two paintings of his were created in regards to the street fights during this time. The first of these paintings was The Stone Breakers, and the second being A Burial at Ornans.

The Stone Breakers was painted in 1849. This painting shows a boy and his father breaking stones to create gravel that was used for roadbeds. Those who were known as stonebreakers represented the disenfranchised peasants where our modern life was formed. The two figures that don’t show their face wear clothing from two different times. The young boy has tattered clothing, but wears modern shoes, which is said to represent what grim future modern life will hold. The older man wears resent peasant like clothing that was said to represents the rural past of their people.  Courbet was making a political statement in his piece. Courbet further studied the two men in his studio.

Realism is portrayed in this image by the colors and positions of the figures. The shadows and dreary paints leave a feeling of depression and aggravation. His rough brush strokes make the scene realistic and gloomy. The positions of the figures show the strain in their movements and struggles in their work. This piece represents the injustice of the work these men had to endure.

            Shortly after The Stone Breakers Courbet painted A Burial At Ornans. Another large-scale painting represented a burial-taking place. The many facial features of the group surrounding the grave create a conflicting emotion in the piece. We see a group of clergymen looking off to the side with their attention clearly not in the present situation. There are many grieving woman surrounding the grave. Some are hiding their faces, and others are looking off and seem to be walking away from the scene. My attention was drawn to the dog in the corner of the painting with clearly no interest in what is happening around him. Had it not been for the title I would not have seen this as a funeral. The many faces depict the emotions that happen in a real funeral. No matter the status of the dead.

            In the colors and brush strokes, like The Stone Breakers, we see gloom and depression. The attention the figures hold on the grave shows the numb uncaring feel those hold during a funeral service. After Courbet had submitted his work to the Salon he knew it would be detested. Regardless, Courbet challenged the style of academic paintings. This established his avant-garde position in the artistic world. He aimed to create controversy with his paintings. His independence in the realism of his paintings is inspirational. They create controversy and represent the truth in modern life, what was, what is, and what will be.