March Newsletter: Roots of Modern Art

I love reading history. I enjoy learning how we, as humans, venture from one challenge to the next. So while I was reading about Expressionism for this newsletter, I realized that this art form (which is  mostly non-objective and comes from the artist's expression of herself), could not be discussed without some background. 

While some would say that modern art has its germination in the post-impressionist era (1880s to 1890s), I believe the earliest seeds began in the mid-1800s with the Impressionists. That's because they bucked the system. They said no to the traditional and struck out on their own, creating an art movement. What made them stand out from the rest?

• Brushstrokes, quickly and thickly applied
• Little mixing, colors are applied adjacent to each other
• Black is seldom used, mixing complementary colors to create darks
• Applying paint wet-on-wet with no glazing, intermingling colors on the canvas 
• Painting outside to capture the sunlight--nature light
• Shadows are filled with color, using blue as a reflective color for the sky
• Studying the effect of light during a variety of different settings from early morning to dusk or later

Impression: Sunrise by Claude Monet (1872)
Gave rise to the name of the group by an art critic.

Of course some of these techniques were used by others in the past but no one used them as much or as well as the Impressionists. They worked together to paint an impression of what they saw, not historical or mythological stories. 

Since the paint tube had been invented, they were able to go outside and paint nature in its purest sense. Their canvases danced with glorious colors and light sometimes with less regard to the subject or form in front of them.

By the 1880s though, a few artists began to venture out on their own: Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) and George Seurat (1859-1891). 

While all, but Van Gogh, exhibited with the Impressionists, and their original work stems from an impressionist style, the post-impressionists began to melt away, seeing limitations to the approach, especially on an expressive level. Additionally, they usually worked alone, became more interested in structure, the modeling (form) of a shape and symbolic content. Spontaneity outdoors was replaced with long hours in the studio. Painting with others was replaced with solitude. The inner life of the individual artist begins to appear on the canvas.

Paul Cézanne

Considered the father of modern art, Cézanne struggled with painting. It just didn't come easy. I think also he was trying to go in a different direction than his impressionist friends, which didn't help. He worked at it and worked at it, sometimes getting so frustrated, he'd say,"Painting is damned difficult - you always think you've got it, but you haven't." He was also a slow painter, so much so, his fruit would often rot before he finished his still life.

Cézanne was well known for building form with color and his analytical approach to painting, once saying, "One must first of all study geometric forms: the cone, the cube, the cylinder, the sphere." His work later inspired Fauvist (Mattisse) and Cubist (Picasso).

Notice the painting below painted in 1877, entitled, Still Life with Jar, Cup, and Apples. Cézanne begins to work on the form of his apples with graduation of values. 

Thirteen years later in 1890, Cézanne has develop a much better sense of form and structure in his painting, as evidenced in Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses.

Cézanne would often paint still life in the morning and spend his afternoons out-of-doors. To see more of Paul Cézanne's work, go to: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Paul_C%C3%A9zanne. Look for what Picasso said, "He was the father of us all."

In subsequent months I will continue our study on the roots of modern art with next month covering Vincent Van Gogh.

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Upcoming March Events

Remember this Sunday: Visual Journaling
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Glastonbury Studios, Tigard

Journaling is a great way to express yourself. Come to this workshop with only your sketchbook. I supply everything else: paper, paints, pen and ink, glue, patterns and so much more. Material fee: $20

PCC Workshop

Travel Sketching

Saturday, March 16  10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Journey with your sketchbook. Capture street scenes, markets, people and landscapes. Use pencil, watercolor pencil, watercolor washes or pen and ink. Bring spiral sketchbook, all other supplies provided. $20 material fee.