Art Bytes

Monet's Garden at Giverny and Video

2008-07-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Claude Monet (1840-1926), photo by Félix Nadar,1899.

Claude Monet's garden at Giverny, France lives on, inspiring and delighting many who visit. Monet shaped his garden and assigned every plant its place, planning and ordering, laying out beds and borders according to varieties and colors.

Giverny, where Monet spent the second half of his life, became his passion, his refuge, his world. "Wherever he travelled, he always asked after his flowers in letters home. The garden on sunny days was very life to him, and when it rained he withdrew to bed, depressed.[1]"

The following are excerpts from an eyewitness account, written during Monet's lifetime, by Arsène Alexandre (1859-1937), critic, art historian and collector, writing for Le Figaro, dated August 9, 1901:

" Everywhere you turn, at your feet, over your head, at chest height, are pools, festoons, hedges of flowers, their harmonies at once spontaneous and designed and renewed at every season.

. . . . . . He also wants, perhaps above all, his flower palette before him to look at all year around, always present, but always changing. Everything is designed in such a way that the celebration is everywhere renewed and ceaselessly replaced. If a certain flower bed is stilled in a certain season, borders and hedges will suddenly light up. The other day, what dominated--or at least most charmed one's gaze--were the broad but subtle harmonies of yellows and violets.

This last helps to describe the master's creation; the effect is explosive and joyful, and every effect is planned.

Photo of Claude Monet's Water Lily Pond and Japanese Bridge, Giverny, France. From Wikimedia Commons.

There is also a second garden . . . . . . This is the famous water lily garden, with its little green Japanese bridge spanning the ornamental lake surrounded by willows and other trees, either fancifully shaped or rare. When the sunlight plays upon the water, it resembles--damascened as it is with the water lilies' great round leaves, and encrusted with the precious stones of their flowers--the masterwork of a goldsmith who has melded alloys of the most magical metals.

. . . . . . This, then, is why I say that the garden is the man. Here is a painter who, in our own time, has mutiplied the harmonies of color, has gone as far as one person can into the subtlety, opulence, and resonance of color. He has dared to create effects so true-to-life as to appear unreal, but which charm us irresistibly, as does all truth revealed."[2]

Enjoy a beautiful tour of Monet's Garden in Giverny, France. Video from 'lynnvm'

References:
Photo of Claude Monet from Wikipedia.
[1] Christoph Heinrich, Claude Monet trans. Michael Hulse (Cologne: Benedikt Taschen, 1994), 73.

[2] Charles F. Stuckey, ed., Monet: A Retrospective (New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1985), 220-223.

Vincent van Gogh Said . . . plus Video

2008-07-03T00:21:00.000-07:00

Inspiring words & sound bytes from the great Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) & Video:

About his Artwork & Method:
"I would like very much to paint portraits which in a hundred years time will be revelations. I would not like to achieve this, however, by keeping close to photographic representations, but instead by sticking to my own passionate view of things and using our knowledge and our present-day tastes in colour as a means of expression and portrayal of the excesses of character."

"The cypresses constantly occupy my thoughts--I want to paint something similar to my sunflower paintings. It's amazing that nobody has yet painted them as I see them; in their lines and proportions they are as beautiful as Egyptian obelisks. And the green is such a special fine tone. The cypress is a black mark in a sun-filled landscape, but it is one of the most interesting black tones, and I can't think of any other tone that was as difficult to capture. One has to see the cypresses here against the blue, or more correctly in the blue."

About Himself As An Artist:
"It is only too true that a lot of artists are mentally ill--it's a life which, to put it mildly, makes one an outsider. I'm alright when I completely immerse myself in work, but I'll always remain half crazy."

"I can't change the fact that my paintings don't sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture."

To know more about Van Gogh, click here for my biography on this artist.

Enjoy this video of Vincent van Gogh's art from 'likelake111' with Enrico Pieranunzi's melancholy music, Canto Nascosto.

Reference:
Walther, Ingo F. Vincent van Gogh. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen, 1993.

Robert Motherwell, Bio and Video

2008-07-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Short bio & video of Robert Motherwell's work:

Robert Motherwell (b. January 24, 1915; d. July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter. Apart from his paintings, Motherwell also made numerous drawings, prints and inspired collages of ripped paper which incorporate paint.

Robert Motherwell was originally an academic, who studied philosophy at Stanford and Harvard University, before changing his field to art and art history at Columbia University, studying under Meyer Schapiro. He wrote extensively, giving the abstract expressionist movement intellectual weight and investing his own work with literary and historical parallels.

His most famous works are a series entitled "Elegy to the Spanish Republic," a homage to Picasso's "Guernica."

The Abstract Expressionists, or New York School as they are also called, broke new ground. Although their styles and philosophies varied widely, they "were united in their revolt against conventional art and in their commitment to a spontaneous freedom of expression."[1] Robert Motherwell, married to fellow artist Helen Frankenthaler, was one of the principal members of this movement, which also included Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Barnett Newman.

Here's a very moving and beautiful video of Robert Motherwell's art from 'artpopulus' with music by Leó Ferré, Ne chantez pas la mort.

"Abstract Expressionism was a movement in American painting that developed in New York in the 1940s. Most Abstract Expressionists were energetic (or 'gestural') painters. They invariably used large canvases and applied paint rapidly and with force, sometimes using large brushes, sometimes dripping or even throwing paint directly onto the canvas. This expressive method of painting was often considered as important as the painting itself. Other Abstract Expressionist artists were concerned with adopting a peaceful and mystical approach to a purely abstract image. Not all the work from this movement was abstract or expressive, but it was generally believed that the spontaneity of the artists' approach to their work would draw from and release the creativity of their unconscious minds."[2]

References:
[1] Judith Clark, The Illustrated History of Art (New York: Mallard Press, 1992), 199.

[2] The Art Book (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996), Glossary.

Major Cézanne Exhibit & Cézanne video

2008-06-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Cézanne Exhibit & Video

Britain's biggest single collection of paintings by the French artist Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) will go on display in its entirety for the first time, starting today: from June 26 to October 5, 2008, at London's Courtauld Gallery.

"The Courtauld Cézannes" exhibition is the culmination of the Courtauld Institute of Art's 75th anniversary celebrations. Major Cézanne paintings as the iconic "Montagne Sainte-Victoire" (1887) and "Card Players" (1892-95) will be shown, as well as rarely seen drawings and watercolours by this master.

Paul Cézanne, Card Players, 1892-95, oil on canvas, Courtauld Gallery, London. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

"Cézanne is the artist at the heart of our collection and of Samuel Courtauld's great project to assemble a collection of modern French paintings," said one of the curators, Barnaby Wright. "It's the greatest collection by some distance in the United Kingdom, larger than the National Gallery and the British Museum together."

Also on display for the first time will be an important group of nine hand-written letters in which Cézanne reflects upon the fundamental principles of his art. One of Cézanne's letters to Bernard was written shortly before his death in 1906 in which Cézanne said: "I have sworn to die while painting, rather than sinking into the degrading senility that threatens old men."

This exhibition traces Cézanne throughout his career: from northern Normandy, to near Paris where he visited his friend Camille Pissarro, and to his native Aix-en-Provence in southern France.

For more info on this exhibition, link to the Courtauld Gallery, London here.

Enjoy this video of Paul Cézanne's art from 'latempesta67' with music by Battiato.

» Sources: supplemented with report from Agence France-Presse.

The Artist Frédéric Bazille

2008-06-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Introduction:

Frédéric Bazille's untimely death in 1870 was a tragic loss of a young rising talent.

Frédéric Bazille, Self-Portrait, 1865, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago. This self-portrait was executed three years after he started painting; his early talent is evident.

Although he died before the actual first 'Impressionist' exhibition (Société anonyme des artistes, peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc.) of 1874, Bazille is counted as one of the Impressionists. He was one of the four promising young artists--Bazille, Monet, Renoir and Sisley--who all met and studied in the Paris atelier of Charles Gleyre in the early 1860s.

Bazille's role in the history of Impressionism rests largely on a very few paintings which were highly regarded by his contemporaries, on his generosity in the early careers of Monet and Renoir, and Bazille's participation with the Batignolles Group.

Not only did the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 robbed the Impressionist movement of Bazille's rising talent, but his death delivered a severe blow to all his friends and colleagues. They not only studied and painted together; but they also shared their lives and hopes together. The tall Bazille was well-known for his kindness, financial support and generosity towards his friends.

Life and Work:

Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870) was born on the 6th of December 1841 into a wealthy family of wine producers from Montpellier in the south of France. He was killed on the 28th of November 1870 at Beaune-la-Rolande near Orléans during the last days of the Franco-Prussian War.

Frédéric Bazille, The Little Gardener (Le Petit Jardinier), c.1866-67, oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Although encouraged to paint by Alfred Bruyas, the great patron and a collector of Courbet's work, Bazille followed his father's wishes and enrolled at the medical academy at Montpellier where he studied for three years. In 1862 Bazille moved to Paris to continue his medical studies and at the same time enrolled at Charles Gleyre's atelier, where he also met Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley.

Frédéric Bazille, The Pink Dress (La Robe Rose), (View of Castelnau-le-Lez, Hérault), 1864, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. This painting showed the beginning maturity of the 23-year old Bazille with his technique and vision.

Eventually, his medical studies fell by the wayside, and Bazille devoted himself full-time to being an artist. Bazille, Monet, Renoir and Sisley often went on 'plein-air' painting expeditions into the countryside around Paris, and these new friends from Charles Gleyre's atelier were mentioned in his letters home.

Bazille wrote in his letters that Monet was "quite good at landscapes; he has given me advice which has helped me very much."[1] Bazille soon became Monet's closest friend. The wealthy Bazille became a vital source of financial and practical support not only for Monet but also for Renoir, who both lived precarious existences in the early days.

Frédéric Bazille, View of a Village (Castelnau-le-Lez, Hérault), 1868, oil on canvas. This painting, exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1869, is a much improved version of The Pink Dress of 1864. In her comments on the Salon of 1869, Berthe Morisot praised the View of a Village highly.[2]

Bazille's kindness and generosity were legendary. When Monet injured his leg in 1865, it was his 'good' friend Bazille who put his medical studies to good use by rigging up a contraption for Monet to ease his pain. When Monet was in financial trouble, Bazille would lend him money and buy his paintings on instalments. When Monet needed a model, Bazille would oblige. When Monet and Renoir needed studio space, Bazille offered his place.

Between 1865 and 1866, Bazille shared his Paris studio in the rue de la Furstenberg with Monet.

Frédéric Bazille, Studio in the rue de la Furstenberg, c. 1865-66, oil on canvas, Musée Fabre, Montpellier.

After a very successful fancy-dress party hosted by Bazille in January 1866 in his studio in the rue de la Furstenberg at which he appeared as a cavalry officer and Monet typecast himself as a Normandy fisherman, the other tenants in the building complained resulting in Bazille and Monet having to move.

Bazille took an apartment on his own. Writing to his brother, Marc, in February 1866, shortly after moving to a new place in the rue Godot-de-Mauroy: "I must admit that I won't mind living alone for a little while; sharing with someone has its drawbacks, even if you get on well together."[3]

However, this isolated spell of 'living alone' was short-lived. Monet and Renoir were soon welcomed back, sharing various studios that Bazille acquired. Bazille's studio in the rue de la Condamine is the setting for a group portrait with some artistic friends.

Frédéric Bazille, Studio in the rue de la Condamine, 1870, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

This picture was painted shortly before Bazille was killed during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. The painting is as much a document as a work of art because we see Bazille's environment and some of his close friends.

The writer Emile Zola leans on the railing of the steps, talking to Renoir, seated below; the musician Maître, playing the piano [4]; Manet is looking at the painting on the easel and Monet stands behind him. Bazille is also represented, his tall figure painted in by Manet, who exaggerated his friend's height in the picture. Bazille's studio was a welcome refuge for penniless friends, such as Renoir and Monet.

Frédéric Bazille, The Family Reunion, 1867, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris. This painting, which may have been influenced by photography, enjoyed some success at the Paris Salon of 1868.

Frédéric Bazille, Summer Scene (Scène d'été), 1869, oil on canvas, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass.

By nature Bazille was sociable and by class a socialite--his friends ranged all the way up the social and artistic scale, from the struggling Monet and Renoir, to Edouard Manet and his circle, the writer Zola, to the composers Fauré, Saint-Saëns, and Chabrier.[5] His social class allowed him entry to the most respectable salons of Paris.

The year 1866 seems to mark the beginnings of what came to be known as the Batignolles Group. While Monet, Bazille, Renoir, Sisley and Pissarro were painting in the countryside, the Batignolles area of Paris was already becoming a focus of artistic attention.

Between 1842 and 1866 the population of the Batignolles area had expanded from 15,000 to 200,000.[6] This popular district was away from the city's centre but close to the Gare St. Lazare train station. Comfortably bourgeois and with its modern buildings, the Batignolles had become residential but still affordable. In 1868 both Bazille and Renoir moved into rooms with a studio in the rue de la Paix of the Batignolles. [7, 8]

Frédéric Bazille, Portrait of Renoir, 1867, oil on canvas.

Parts of the old Batignolles district remained, populated by poor immigrants and prostitutes, where Edouard Manet found some of his subjects and models. Manet had lived in the Batignolles for some time at various addresses and had started to frequent the Café Guerbois at 11 Grande rue des Batignolles.

Café Guerbois soon became the favourite place to be in Paris, with its stimulating mix of intellectuals and the artistic avant-garde spending many evenings filled with lively talks on art and literature. Bazille was one of the core participants in these artistic gatherings at the Café Guerbois.

"A complex network of relationships between Monet, Pissarro, Bazille, Cézanne, Guillaumin, Morisot, Renoir, Sisley, Manet and Degas had already begun to form by this point.[9]

It was at the Café Guerbois that the first ideas for an independent exhibiting society would have been discussed and thrashed out--seven years before the 'Société anonyme' actually staged its (first Impressionist exhibition) show in 1874 in Nadar's old photography studio in the boulevard des Capucines, Paris, by which time Bazille had been dead for four years.[10]

Bazille, in a letter to his parents in 1867, had mentioned the idea of renting a large studio where they could exhibit as many pictures as they wished and not be at the mercy of the Paris Salon: "With these people (Courbet, Corot, Diaz, Daubigny) and Monet, who is stronger than all of them, we are sure to succeed." (In the end, the older generation of 'plein-airistes' and the Realist Courbet did not participate, and neither, of course, did Bazille.)[11]

Frédéric Bazille, La Toilette, 1870, oil on canvas, Musée Fabre, Montpellier.

When 'La Toilette' was accepted in the 1870 Paris Salon and was hung in a decent position, he wrote to his parents:

"I am delighted . . . my picture is very well placed. Everyone can see it and is talking about it . . . Judgements on it have been various; some people have laughed, but I've also received some hyperbolic eulogies, which modesty forbids me to set down in writing."[12]

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 scattered the Batignolles Group. Monet and Pissarro found their way to London separately, Renoir joined the Tenth Cavalry Regiment and was mobilized to Libourne in the Bordeaux region, and Bazille joined the Zouaves regiment, soon reaching the rank of second lieutenant.[13]

From the start of the war, the French armies were in disarray and the Prussians advanced swiftly. Bazille's regiment spent its time marching up and down the country. On the 28th of November 1870, Bazille's regiment received orders to march on Beaune-la-Rolande near Orléans.

François Daulte, Bazille's biographer, describes the young artist's last moments in the Battle of Beaune-la-Rolande:

" The company halted on the top of ridge overlooking Beaune. It was greeted with a hail of Prussian bullets. The first of the men advancing toward the town fell like flies ........ In the general chaos women and children were escaping from the town and running towards isolated farm buildings which would offer some protection ........ Bazille's turn came and he charged, crying: "Don't shoot! Women and children!" He was hit by two bullets to the arm and chest. He fell, face down in the earth, fifty metres from the château where Corot had painted one of his masterpieces. "[14]

Frédéric Bazille, aged 29, died on the battlefield and was buried in the snow. Six days later Bazille's father came to claim his son's body to take back to Montpellier for burial.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Bazille at Work (Bazille in the Studio), 1867, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
Renoir painted an honest and forthright portrait of his close friend.

Bazille was at the very heart of the growing Impressionist movement. His paintings showed he had considerable talent and potential, especially in portraits and figures and with serene landscapes. He achieved success with his showings at the Paris Salon.

He was well-loved by all his friends and colleagues. His letters home showed his close relationship with a loving and supportive family.

Bazille's early landscapes are lost; it is impossible to determine how much Monet did help or influence Bazille, as mentioned in Bazille's letters home. However, some later paintings by Bazille of the Aigues-Mortes from varying distances and angles show that he was an accomplished landscapist, but not in the vein of Monet. Bazille's view is one of stillness and tranquillity: no "fugitive effects" are captured in Bazille's work.[15]

Frédéric Bazille, Landscape au bord du Lez (Paysage au bord du Lez), 1870, oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis.

François Daulte, Bazille's biographer, concluded:

" Bazille, unlike Monet, did not seek the trembling visual moment . . . His drawings, like his sketches and his paintings, follow his life . . . His profound originality was to 'live his painting and paint his life'. "[16]

References and Notes:

Images of Frédéric Bazille paintings from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved June 12, 2008.

Katz, Robert and Celestine Dars. The Impressionists. Rev. ed. London: Anness Publishing Limited, 1994.

[1] Robert Katz and Celestine Dars, The Impressionists, rev. ed. (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 1994), 258.
[2] Katz and Dars, The Impressionists, 261.
[3] Ibid., 259.
[4] Ibid., 86.
[5] Ibid., 260.
[6] Ibid., 74.
[7] Ibid., 75.
[8] Ibid., 223.
[9] Ibid., 73.
[10] Ibid., 260.
[11] Ibid., 260.
[12] Ibid., 265.
[13] Ibid., 260.
[14] Ibid., 262.
[15] Ibid., 265.
[16] Ibid., 265.

A Pierre-Auguste Renoir Biography

2008-03-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

Learn about Pierre-Auguste Renoir, enjoy the images & read the biography of Renoir's life and art; see also my Renoir slideshow of selected paintings. Have a good day, everyone!

"We were all one group when we first started out.
We stood shoulder to shoulder and
encouraged each other . . ."[1]
-- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
twenty years after the first Impressionist show
(Société anonyme) of 1874

Beginnings and Youth

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Self-Portrait, 1910, oil on canvas, Durand-Ruel Collection, New York.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), a French painter, whose art celebrated beauty and sensuality, was one of the leading artists in the development of Impressionism. Renoir, who was the sixth of seven children, two of whom died in infancy, was born on February 25, 1841, at Limoges, a city in the centre of France famous for pottery and enamel work. Renoir's father was a tailor who had moved his family to Paris in 1844. As a child, Renoir must have shown an exceptional gift for music because Charles Gounod, who had taught him singing and piano, wanted the young Renoir to study music professionally.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Still-Life with Flowers in Vase, 1866, oil on canvas, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Instead, Renoir chose to go down a different path, but he had kept his love of music throughout his life. Renoir would whistle incessantly whilst painting. In 1995 Paul Renoir, the artist's then 70-year old grandson, told a gathering of the 13th European Congress of Rheumatology in Amsterdam that his grandfather Pierre-Auguste was always singing or humming tunes from opera while painting, as well as taking his piano with him whenever the Renoir family moved, 53 times in Paris alone.[2]

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Odalisque, 1870, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

At about the age of fourteen, Renoir became an apprentice to M. Levy, a porcelain painter. When Levy's firm closed down in 1858, Renoir then painted decorative fans for his brother Henri, copying the art of Watteau, Lancret, Boucher, and Fragonard, and painted window blinds for a M. Gilbert. Renoir continued this work until he won a place at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1862, becoming a pupil of Charles Gleyre until 1864. At Gleyre's atelier Renoir met Monet, Bazille, and Sisley, all of whom were to share in forming the new naturalistic movement which, during the 1870s, became known as Impressionism. In later years, when Renoir and his friends became famous, Renoir was the only one to recognize the efforts of his studio master Charles Gleyre; and in the 1880s Renoir was to return to the techniques Glenyre had taught him.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Lise with Umbrella, 1867, oil on canvas, Museum Folkwang, Essen.

This painting, shown at the 1868 Paris Salon, received considerable acclaim. Renoir's first successful submission to the Paris Salon was in 1864 with a portrait of Sisley's wealthy father.

Renoir and Impressionism

By 1864 Renoir was already accompanying his friends, Monet, Bazille and Sisley, on 'en plein-air' painting expeditions at Chailly, on the edge of the Fontainebleau Forest. The village of Chailly was in the region of Barbizon, where the previous generation of en plein-air landscapists gathered to paint. Narcisse-Virgile Diaz of the Barbizon School of painters (c. 1830-1870) was a special mentor who, unlike the other Barbizon artists, used a multitude of juicy, piled-up brush strokes and a vivid palette. Renoir already admired Corot, Courbet and many other works of this period for their qualities of mass and sensuousness, but Renoir's palette, which grew more delicate towards the end of the 1860s, may also owe something to his earlier apprenticeship in porcelain painting on white surfaces and to Diaz.[3]

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait of the Marriage: Sisley and His Wife, 1868, oil on canvas, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.

During the late 1860s Renoir's style was at a crossroads. It became custom for Renoir and his friends to meet on most evenings at the Café Guerbois in the Batignolles quarter of Paris, with Édouard Manet at the centre of most discussions.

Frédéric Bazille, who was from a wealthy family and comfortable, often shared his studio with his friends. In 1868 Renoir and Bazille moved into rooms with a studio in the Batignolles area of Paris. In 1869 Renoir spent the summer living with his parents at Louveciennes. At this time Renoir travelled the few miles nearly every day up the river to Bougival to where Monet was living and together they painted side by side at the popular bathing establishment known as La Grenouillère on the Ile-de-Croissy on the Seine.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, La Grenouillère, 1869, oil on canvas, National Museum, Stockholm.

To some minds this period spent at La Grenouillère was the place where Impressionism was born. Both Monet and Renoir painted the same views at La Grenouillère with practically the same high-keyed palette and short, rapid brush strokes. However, in comparing the two painters' work from that summer, Renoir's paintings focused more on the social interaction and gestures of the figures in the scenes. By the late 1860s Renoir had moved away from and modified the Courbet-influenced styling of his previous figure paintings. Renoir was now echoing Monet's approach. Renoir's brush strokes became lighter and more delicate-- the large masses of local colour were broken down into the richly varied effects of fleeting light on surfaces.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Chrysanthemums, 1881-82, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the Batignolles group were scattered, some of the artists enlisted and others took refuge. Renoir joined the Tenth Cavalry Regiment and was sent to the Bordeaux region.[4] Manet remained in Paris, a lieutenant in the National Guard. Monet and Pissarro went separately to London. Frédéric Bazille was killed in battle at Beaune-la-Rolande near Orléans.[5] Cézanne sought refuge in the fishing village of L'Estaque and in Aix-en-Provence, near Marseille.[6]

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pont Neuf, 1872, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Between 1871 and 1874, Renoir frequently visited Monet in Argenteuil on the Seine just outside Paris, where they again painted the same subjects. Renoir's painting, Pont Neuf (1872) with the "briefly sketched-in figures highlighted with dabs of pure pigment" showed Monet's influence.

Deepening frustration and repeated rejections from the official Paris Salon forced the group of Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Degas, Cézanne and others to form the Société anonyme des artistes, peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc. in December 1873. Their first exhibition opened April 15 to May 15, 1874, deliberately timed to upstage the official Paris Salon. Nadar's former photography studio on the Boulevard des Capucines was used, with thirty artists participating but without Édouard Manet who had argued that "the Salon is the true battlefield."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, La Loge, 1874, oil on canvas, Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Renoir's now famous painting La Loge (1874) passed unnoticed as one of his seven paintings exhibited at the first show. La Loge was later bought in 1875 by a small-time dealer Père Martin for 425 francs. The 1874 first exhibition was a financial disaster, with very few paintings sold and low attendance. However, it was this first exhibit which prompted the critic Louis Leroy's satirical article in the magazine Le Charivari, with the headline "Exhibition of the Impressionists," a word Leroy had coined from Monet's seascape titled Impression, Sunrise,that gave the group its name. Renoir participated in four of the total eight Impressionist exhibitions, in 1874, 1876, 1877 and 1882.[7]

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette, 1876, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Towards the end of the 1870s Renoir became less involved with the Impressionists as a group. He saw the Paris Salon as the place to sell his paintings. In 1876, Renoir had the good fortune to meet the Charpentiers, a wealthy and influential couple, who were now beginning to commission portraits as well as decorations for their house in Paris. Success came in the Salon of 1879 with the Portrait of Madame Charpentier and Her Children.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait of Madame Charpentier and Her Children, 1878, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Wave, 1879, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

I included this Renoir painting because I like its abstract and timeless quality.

Maturity and Change

An artistic crisis loomed ahead for Renoir. In the spring of 1881, Renoir took his first trip abroad to Algeria in the footsteps of Delacroix, which reassured him about his direction as an Impressionist; and he was soon back in France at Chatou and Bougival painting masterpieces such as The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881).

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881, oil on canvas, Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party demonstrates Renoir's assured handling of a complex group of figures. The woman on the left holding a small dog is Aline Charigot, Renoir's future wife. This painting shows Renoir's Impressionist technique at its height, where he used gentle modeling and his feathery brush strokes to give the relaxing group of figures a soft-focus charm.

But, by October 1881, he had left for Italy to see "the Raphaels." In a letter from Italy in November 1881, Renoir wrote to his art dealer, Durand-Ruel, " . . . it's all a mess. I'm still making a mess and I'm forty years old."[8] Renoir also stated, "I had come to the end of Impressionism. I was reaching the conclusion that I didn't know how either to paint or draw. In a word, I was at a dead end."[9] He had travelled to Italy seeking the formal classicism of Raphael and other Renaissance masters. Renoir had also stayed in Venice and studied the work of Veronese. He was now also ready to look again at Ingres. In Sicily he had met and painted a portrait of the composer Richard Wagner. From here, Renoir returned to France in January 1882 and journeyed to L'Estaque and joined Cézanne on landscape expeditions, where Renoir fell ill with pneumonia.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies), c.1881-85, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London.

The Umbrellas, which was reworked during the 1880s and left unfinished, showed his confusion and artistic crisis at the time, trying to reconcile a linear style with Impressionist brushwork. The solid handling of the umbrellas could have been Cézanne's influence; the group on the right is painted in the delicate style associated with his Impressionist period, whilst the girl on the left foreground shows the beginnings of a sharper-edged and more formal style influenced by classical art.

Renoir's change in style became evident in 1883 when he held a one-man show at Durand-Ruel's. At year-end he visited Cézanne, as he did again in 1885. Following the birth of his first son Pierre in 1885, he started painting scenes and portraits of family life. His second son Jean, who became a distinguished film director, was born in 1894. A third son, Claude ("Coco"), was born in 1901.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gabrielle and Jean, 1895-96, oil on canvas, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris.

Gabrielle, a distant relative of Renoir's wife Aline, came to live with the Renoirs as a housekeeper. She stayed with the family for more than 20 years and became a frequent model for Renoir.

In the mid-1880s, Renoir produced a series of female nude bathers as a vehicle for expressing light, colour and form, culminating in the monumental The Bathers (Les Baigneuses) of 1887. He drew new inspiration from Velázquez after a trip to Spain in 1892. He rediscovered the delicateness of Corot whose work was now much in demand by collectors and looked again to the 18th-century French painters Watteau and Fragonard whose art he had copied onto fans during his youth. After the 1890s Renoir gradually soften and relaxed his classical linear styling, loosening his brushwork.

The Later Years

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Swing, 1876, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

By 1897 six works by Renoir, including The Swing (La Balançoire) and The Ball at the Moulin de la Galette (Le Bal au Moulin de la Galette), had at last entered the national museum collections.[10]

Few people knew that Renoir suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis during the last 25 years of his life, the disease probably starting around 1892 when he was in the prime of his life at about age 50 (for photos & more on Renoir's arthritic condition, see the web link under Footnote [2] in my References). In 1901 Renoir could still use his hands normally, but he required a walking cane to assist him. The disease become more aggressive from 1903 onwards. By 1908, he had to use two walking canes to move around. At the age of 71 Renoir became wheelchair-bound from 1912 onwards. Renoir kept working and adapted his painting technique continuously. Undaunted by his crippling arthritis and severe pain, Renoir was inspired to start a series of sculptures in 1907 echoing his nude figure paintings. However, Renoir had to use the hands of a gifted young modeller named Guino, who executed the work from drawings.[11]

In 1908 the Renoirs moved to the south of France to Cagnes-sur-Mer near Nice, where the warmer climate eased Renoir's severe arthritis.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Large Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses), 1918-19, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

To paint his large 160 cm by 110 cm The Large Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses), 1918-19, Renoir replaced his easel with the ingenious invention of a 'moving canvas or picture roll' in which the canvas was fixed onto wooden slats which could turn around two spindles linked by the chain of his old bicycle and driven by a crank to move the canvas up or down.[12]

In 1900 Renoir received the honour of a Knight (Chevalier) of the Légion d'Honneur; and in the last year of his life, he became a Commander (Commandeur) of the Légion d'Honneur.[13]

It is the results of Renoir's refusal to paint the "unpleasant things in the world" and to make it his focus to paint only the beauty and the joys of life with his cheery rainbow colours and where the sun always shines that make Renoir's paintings so appealing and so well-loved by many. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who painted to the very last day and outlived all his comrades except Monet, died of pneumonia at Cagnes-sur-Mer on December 3, 1919, at the age of 78. His wife, Aline, had died earlier in 1915.

References:
Images from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
[1] Robert Katz and Celestine Dars, The Impressionists, rev. ed. (London: Anness Publishing Limited, 1994), 96.
[2] Web link to article by Annelies Boonen, and others, "How Renoir Coped with Rheumatoid Arthritis," BMJ (British Medical Journal) 1997; 315: 1704-1708 (20 December 1997). http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/315/7123/1704.
[3] David Thomas, Renoir: French School (London: The Medici Society Limited, 1966), 3.
[4] Katz and Dars, The Impressionists, rev. ed., 226.
[5] Ibid., 86.
[6] Ulrike Becks-Malorny, Paul Cézanne. Phil Goddard, trans. (Cologne: Benedikt Taschen, 1995), 20.
[7] Gabriele Crepaldi, The Impressionists (London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2002), chart.
[8] Katz and Dars, The Impressionists, rev. ed., 240.
[9] Ibid., 118.
[10] Thomas, Renoir: French School, 12.
[11] Boonen and others, "How Renoir Coped with Rheumatoid Arthritis," 20 December 1997.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Katz and Dars, The Impressionists, rev. ed., 242.

To cite this article, please use: "A Pierre-Auguste Renoir Biography by Margaret Lee," Art Bytes (March 9, 2008) at http://art-bytes.blogspot.com/

Juan Gris and Cubism

2008-02-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

Cubism had changed art forever in conception and definition.

" This revolutionary method of making a pictorial image was invented jointly by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the first decade of the 20th century. Although it may appear abstract and geometrical, Cubist art does depict real objects. These are "flattened" onto the canvas so that different sides of each shape can be shown simultaneously from various angles. Instead of creating the illusion of an object in space, as artists had endeavoured to do since the Renaissance, Cubist art defines objects in the two-dimensional terms of the canvas. This innovation gave rise to an extraordinary reassessment of the interaction between form and space, changing the course of Western art forever. "[1]

Juan Gris, Portrait of Picasso, 1912, oil on canvas, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Juan Gris (1887-1927) was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France most of his life. He is known as one of the artists who contributed to the further development of Cubism after 1912.

Juan Gris' portrait of his friend and fellow countryman, Pablo Picasso, in 1912, is recognized as an important Cubist painting done by an artist other than Picasso or Georges Braque.

At a Sorbonne lecture in Paris in 1924, Juan Gris stated, "Cubism is not a manner but an aesthetic, and even a state of mind; it is therefore inevitably connected with every manifestation of contemporary thought. It is possible to invent a technique or a manner independently, but one cannot invent the whole complexity of a state of mind."[2]

Juan Gris, Glass of Beer and Playing Cards, 1913, oil papier collé on canvas, Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio.

The development of Cubism came in two phases:

'Analytical Cubism,' between 1908-1912, whereby most of the Cubist works had been developed from the observed and experienced subject, in accordance with Paul Cézanne's practice; in the second phase, 'Synthetic Cubism,' between 1912 - 1919 and persisting into the 1920s, the subject was less emphatic. Picasso claimed that form, colour and medium would dictate the subject.

The use of papier collé or collage marked the beginning of 'Synthetic Cubism' with its inclusion of mixed media, "of added materials and painted textures, in a denser, more decorative and colourful surface... In Synthetic Cubism, the flat surface of the canvas is treated as solidly opaque, nothing penetrates below its surface into imaginary depth. Its opacity is further emphasized by the applied materials that often stood out from the surface. The artist's freedom from illusionary 'representation' also brought another important change."[3]

Juan Gris, The Sunblind, 1914, collage with chalk marks on canvas, Tate Gallery, London.

Juan Gris, Still Life with Guitar, Book and Newspaper, c.1919, oil on canvas, Kunstmuseum, Basel.

Juan Gris had said, "No work which is destined to become a classic can look like the classics which have preceded it. In art, as in biology, there is heredity but no identity with the ascendants. Painters inherit characteristics acquired by their forerunners; that is why no important work of art can belong to any period but its own, to the very moment of its creation. It is necessarily dated by its own appearance. The conscious will of the painter cannot intervene."[4]

Juan Gris, Still Life with Bordeaux Bottles, 1919, oil on canvas, T. and A. Werner Collection, Berlin.

Juan Gris' art remained essentially Cubist in form until his death in Paris. He died in 1927 at the young age of forty.

References:
Images from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved February 18, 2008.

[1] The Art Book (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996), Glossary.

[2] Response to a questionnaire, from "Chez les cubistes," Bulletin de la Vie Artistique, ed. Félix Fénéon, Guillaume Janneau, et al (1925-01-01); trans. Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Juan Gris, His Life and Work (1947).

[3] Judith Clark, The Illustrated History of Art (New York: Mallard Press, 1992), 178.

[4] "On the Possibilities of Painting," lecture, Sorbonne, Paris (May 15, 1924), printed in Transatlantic Review, #16 (June 1924) p. 482-488; trans. Douglas Cooper in Horizon, #80 (Aug. 1946) p. 113-122.

Xu Beihong (徐悲鴻), Part II

2008-02-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

Xu Beihong (1895-1953) was famous for his horse paintings. He was an outstanding modern artist and a dedicated teacher in China.

Xu Beihong, Portrait in Chinese Ink, 1942, ink on paper, 66 x 35 cm. Xu Beihong Museum, Beijing.

Note Xu Beihong's skillful representation of volume and solidity with just a few calligraphic brush strokes and two simple areas of ink washes in the portrait.

He integrated the ancient and modern and sought to combine Chinese brush-and-ink techniques with Western techniques of realism, perspective foreshortening, and composition. Although he also excelled in oils, today we will look at some examples of his art in traditional Chinese ink and colour. He was a prolific painter--of figures, landscapes, birds, animals, and flowers--having left over 1,200 of his own artworks, now kept in the Xu Beihong Museum in Beijing.

Xu Beihong, Forest Scene in the Himalayas, 1940, ink on paper, 55 x 23 cm. Xu Beihong Museum, Beijing.

Again, by using varying shades of ink washes with simple linear brush strokes, Xu Beihong has painted a dense forest scene in the Himalayas. Note the contrast and tension between the white 'unpainted' space and the 'darkest' inked areas. Notice also his use of 'dry' brush strokes in the single tree trunk and bare branches in the middle of the painting.

His 'dry' brush had skimmed quickly over the paper's surface, allowing streaks of the white paper underneath to show through the brush strokes. Compare these 'dry' brush strokes to the 'wet' patches of ink throughout. See how simply he represented the tree foliage, foreground, and background details.

Xu Beihong, A Beauty Among the Fallen Petals, 1944, ink and colour on paper, 101 x 40 cm. Xu Beihong Museum, Beijing.

The bamboo is an age-old favourite subject of Chinese artists. Chinese ink paintings of bamboo can be seen as both a painting and a piece of calligraphy.

"To produce such a work, it is absolutely necessary to have a steady wrist and complete control of brush and ink, and to work in swift, sure brush strokes without the least hesitation. Experience teaches the values of ink tones, the way of handling a dry or wet brush, and variety of brush strokes."[1]

Xu Beihong, Bamboo in Chinese Ink, 1943, ink on paper, 92 x 28 cm. Xu Beihong Museum, Beijing.

The bamboo, known as the 'friend of China,' is evergreen and flourishes through all the seasons. Botanically, bamboos belong to the grass family. The woody stems (also known as culms) are hollow, mostly greenish-brown and, due to their silica content, are very strong with a circumference of up to 6" (15 cm.) in some tropical species."[2]

The bamboo's hollow body is at the same time sturdy, light and flexible, suggesting constancy and versatility--able to withstand and bend to any adversity without breaking. The characteristic growth pattern of its 'segmented' stem reflects orderliness. As well as a symbol of 'summer,' the bamboo "represents the essence of refinement and culture. It is gentle and graceful in fair weather, strong and resilient under adverse conditions. Its suppleness, adaptability, uprightness, firmness, vigor, freshness, and even the sweet melancholy of the rustle of its leaves have been translated into qualities of mind, spirit, and character."[3]

Xu Beihong, Red Plum Blossoms, 1943, ink and colour on paper, 99 x 33 cm. Xu Beihong Museum, Beijing.

Another enduring favourite is the plum blossom--the flower that can withstand frosty weather. The beautiful and delicate flower buds emerge and burst into full bloom, unhindered by frost and snow. The plum blossom is admired for its fortitude. As the emblem of 'winter,' the plum tree welcomes the beginning of each new year and the return of spring, of new life, and hope.

Appropriately, a branch or sprig of red plum blossoms are used in (Chinese) New Year decorations and gifts to express good wishes for the coming year. The plum tree's sinuous trunk has often been compared to a dragon's body. The ideals of purity, beauty, strength, courage and perseverance have all been associated with the delightful plum blossom.

A Happy Lunar New Year to All... May Peace, Happiness and Prosperity Come Your Way !!!

祝您在2008年裡有

"鼠"不盡的快樂！
"鼠"不盡的收獲！
"鼠"不盡的笑容！
"鼠"不盡的幸福！
"鼠"不盡的美滿生活!

To view my earlier posting on Xu Beihong's famous horses,
click on here.

References:
[1] Mai-Mai Sze, The Way of Chinese Painting: Its Ideas and Techniques, (New York: Random House, Inc., 1959), 97.

[2] Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers, (London: Dorling Kindersley Limited, 1989), 478.

[3] Sze, The Way of Chinese Painting..., 97.

Paintings by Xu Beihong, Vol. 1. Compiled by Xu Beihong Museum & Beijing Publishing House, (Beijing: Beijing Publishing House, 1979).

Mona Lisa's Identity !

2008-01-20T19:38:00.000-08:00

At last, the centuries-old question of 'Who was Mona Lisa?' has been solved--the woman with the world's most famous smile has been identified !!!

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, c.1503-1506, oil on wood panel, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

German academic experts at the Heidelberg University library issued a statement last week, "All doubts about the identity of the Mona Lisa have been eliminated by a discovery by Armin Schlechter."

It has long been believed that the most likely model for this famous 16th century painting was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. But, until this breakthrough discovery, the scant evidence from 16th century documents led to different interpretations and speculations of the Mona Lisa. Experts at the Heidelberg University library now report that dated notes scribbled in the margins of a book by its owner in October, 1503, confirm that Lisa del Giocondo was indeed the model for the Mona Lisa.

The notes were made by Agostino Vespucci, who was a Florentine city official and an acquaintance of Leonardo da Vinci, in a 1477 book of collected letters by the Roman orator, Cicero. The notes had compared Leonardo da Vinci to the ancient Greek artist, Apelles, and had also said that Leonardo was working on three paintings at the time, one of them was a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.

Notes made by Agostino Vespucci, dated October, 1503, in a 1477 collection of letters by Cicero.

According to a spokesperson at the Heidelberg University library, Dr. Armin Schlechter had discovered these notes more than two years ago in the library. Although the findings had been included in the library's public catalog, the discovery had not been widely publicized until a German broadcaster decided to do some recording at the library.

Leonardo da Vinci, Self-Portrait, c.1512-1515, red chalk, Royal Library, Turin.

The Mona Lisa, which hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, is also known as La Gioconda, meaning the happy or joyful woman in Italian, a title which also suggests the woman's married name.

Who She Was
Lisa Gherardini, born June 15, 1479, married Francesco del Giocondo, a wealthy Florentine textile merchant in 1495 when she was 16 and he was 35. The marriage increased her social status slightly as her husband's family was wealthy. He also benefited because 'Gherardini' was an old and respected name.

The couple had 5 children: Piero, Andrea, Giocondo, Camilla and Marietta.

The Mona Lisa portrait--painted when Lisa del Giocondo was about 24--might have marked one of two events: the purchase of the couple's own house in 1503, or when their second son, Andrea, was born in December, 1502, after the death of a daughter in 1499. There has been speculation that the delicate dark veil that covers the Mona Lisa's hair is a mourning veil. However, such veils were commonly worn as a mark of virtue.

Giuseppe Pallanti, an amateur Italian historian, claimed last year that he found a death certificate that showed Lisa del Giocondo died on July 15, 1542, and is buried in the Convent of St. Ursula in Florence. Lisa del Giocondo would have been 63 when she died.

» Source: Staff, The Louvre, AP.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
Article Source: The Globe and Mail (Vancouver edition)/Reuters. January 15,2008, A2.

Winter Art by Paul Gauguin

2008-01-14T20:46:00.000-08:00

Photograph of Paul Gauguin, c. 1891, photographer unknown.

Say the name 'Paul Gauguin' to me, and I see color, color and more color dancing in my head. Paul Gauguin was known for his vibrantly bold and exotic images of Polynesian women and island life.

However, before he relocated to Tahiti and finally to settle in the Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia), he painted these winter scenes while still in Europe.

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) participated in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and the eighth 'last' Impressionist Exhibits of 1879, 1880, 1881, 1882 and 1886 in Paris.

Paul Gauguin, Garden Under Snow, 1879, oil on canvas, Magyar Szépmüvészeti Muzeum, Budapest.

Paul Gauguin, Snow in the Rue Carcel, 1882, oil on canvas, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.

Paul Gauguin, Breton Village in the Snow, 1888, oil on canvas, Konstmuseum, Göteborg.

Paul Gauguin, Christmas, 1894, oil on canvas. Private Collection.

For more 'winter scenes' by other artists, please take a look at my earlier postings from December, 2007, click on 'winter scenes' from my list of labels located on the right-hand side of this blog posting.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved January 14, 2008.