Chapter 28: Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism: Chapter Sheet

Europe and America, 1870 to 1900

Preview: The period from 1870 to 1900 saw intense artistic experimentation and development, particularly in France. The Impressionists, a group that included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Berthe Morisot and others, held their first group exhibition in 1874, showing many works that had been painted en plein air (outdoors) and that captured scenes of contemporary urban life. “Post-Impressionism” is term extended to artists such as Georges Seurat, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézenne, who developed beyond the sketch-like quality of Impressionism and explored the structure of painted form or the emotions wrought by color. French Symbolists, including Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Henri Rousseau, painted subjective scenes that transcended the everyday world and were often dreamlike and sensuous. The leading sculptor of this era was Auguste Rodin, who explored the representation of movement and energy in bronze and marble. Rodin often sculpted fragmented forms that had immense influence on later modern sculptors. Architectural developments in this period varied: the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements opposed modern mass production and embraced natural forms; the Eiffel Tower’s exposed iron skeleton represented the possibilities for new architectural expressions; and in the U.S., Louis Sullivan integrated organic form and the metal frame to become a pioneer in skyscraper design.

List of Artworks (24 cards total)

  1. Chapter 28 Context Card

Impressionism:

  1. Monet, Impression: Sunrise, 1872—pg. 802
  2. Monet, Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (in Sun), 1894—pg. 803
  3. Monet, Saint-Lazare Train Station, 1877—pg. 803
  4. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876—pg. 806
  5. Édouard Manet, A Bar at the Foliés-Bergére, 1882—pg. 807
  6. Edgar Degas, The Rehearsal, 1874—pg. 807
  7. Mary Cassatt, The Bath, ca. 1892—pg. 809
  8. James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold (The Falling Rocket), ca. 1875—pg. 810

Post-Impressionism:

  1. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge, 1892-1895—pg. 811
  2. Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, 1884-1886—pg. 812
  3. Van Gogh, Night Café, 1888—pg.814
  4. Van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889—pg. 815
  5. Paul Gauguin, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? 1897—pg. 816
  6. Paul Céanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1902-1904—pg. 817
  7. Cézanne, Basket of Apples, ca. 1895—pg. 818

Symbolism:

  1. Rousseau, Sleeping Gypsy, 1897—pg. 821
  2. Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893—pg. 823
  3. Gustav Klimt, The Kiss, 1907-1908—pg. 823

Sculpture:

  1. Auguste Rodin, Walking Man, 1905—pg, 825
  2. Rodin, Burghers of Calais, 1884-1889—pg. 826 (small image)

Architecture and Decorative Arts:

  1. Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower (looking southeast), Paris, France, 1889—pg. 830
  2. Henry Hobson Richardson, Marshall Field wholesale store, Chicago, 1885-1887—pg. 831
  3. Sullivan, Wainwright Building, St. Louis, 1890-1891—pg. 832

Key Figures: Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, Napoleon III, John Ruskin, Michel-Eugéne Chevreul,

Key Cultural Terms & Events: Salon, Salon des Refusés, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in France, Japonisme, Aesthetic Movement, Pointillism, Divisionism, Art Nouveau

Key Art Terms: local color, en plein air

Exercises for Study:

1. Describe the defining elements and techniques of Impressionism.

2. What is Post-Impressionism? Name the central artists of Post-Impressionism and describe what distinguishes their art from Impressionism.

3. Discuss how Japanese art influenced artists in Europe and the U.S. in the 19th century.

4. What new architectural structures and forms were made possible by the industrial revolution?

5. Compare and contrast the following pairs of artworks, using the points of comparison as a guide.

Learning Objectives:

  • Talk about time and transient effects in relation to Impressionism.
  • Describe the relationship between Impressionism and the out-of-doors urban scene in Paris.
  • Explain why Post-Impressionism is not a unified style.
  • Describe the approach to painting by four major Post-Impressionist artists.
  • Explain why Symbolism is very different from both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.
  • Explain why Rodin had such an important influence on modern art.
  • Describe the aims of both the Arts and Crafts movement and the Art Nouveau movement.
  • Describe three pieces of architecture that embraced new building materials and techniques before the end of the 19th Century.