Impressionism in a Cup: Travelling from Monet’s Water Lillies to Renoir’s Parties

The Industrial Revolution brought about structural changes in Europe. It sparked interest in new ideas and the need for new development. The Industrial Revolution introduced the new art form of impressionism and influenced many artists. Impressionism flourished out of the art form of Realism. The word impressionist originated by the critics as an insult to the young artists. It came from the title of Monets painting Impressionism of the Rising Sun. This painting shows that the artists intention was to show the landscape as his personal impression. In 1874, a group of young painters organized an exhibit with art that broke the established customs and appeared revolutionary. This group included two of the most famous artists Oscar-Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. When critics first viewed the new art form in the nineteenth century, they were appalled. It was viewed as a disgrace to the accepted classic art form. These painters tried to give vivid impressions o!

f people and places as they might appear in a brief glance. Impressionist studied light and color and experimented with small patches of different colors placed side by side to create shimmering effects. They derived new concepts from the lessons of the past and the present. Impressionist painted their art in the wide openness of the outdoors. They believed that they could capture the full effect of the objects that they are painting. Many artists tried to capture the beauty of inanimate objects, such as nature or landmarks, but artist such as Renoir seek the beauty in the human body. The art of the nineteenth century gave an opening the larger freedom of the individual human being.

Oscar-Claude Monet was born on November 14, 1840 in Paris. Monet describes himself as being “a lone, independent spirit and untutored genius”(Mannering 1996, 57). As a young man, Monet had achieved fame as cartoonist and instant portraitist. His cartoonist led to his encounter with Eugene Boudin, who took his paints and worked outside directly with nature. Monet soon became convert to working in the open air with nature. This refers to the thought that most impressionist worked outdoors. Monet began to work in the studio and made friends with his future fellow Impressionists Renoir. Monet appointed himself leader of the group that he worked with in the studio. While on vacation in Normandy, France, he gained praise from the critics for two of his works. Monet had already attempted lightening his palette and painting with cursory brushstrokes. This eliminated details and gave the paintings a less defined appearance. Monet and Renoir began to work rougher and used mor!

e canvas. Monets new style of painting began to receive criticisms and harsh rejection. After the Franco-Prussian War, Monet along with friends went to Argenteuil. Argenteuil became the headquarters for Impressionism and separated itself from the traditional art academies. Monets works express a pantheistic style full of freedom. His works demonstrate a vision like canvas of Impressionism, the colors separate into their own elements. He shows less interest in detailed description but more in the true way objects appear. Many of his paintings show both the daylight and the moonlight reflecting on the object, therefore the colors and their appearance become more important than the object. The theme of all of his works is the interplay of reflection and reality. The works of Monet are a reflection of the happy period after the Industrial Revolution that was free from material worries. Monet was the only figure of the Impressionist movement that remained true to the I!

mpressionists view of nature. Claude Monet was and always will be considered the greatest Impressionists of all time because of his beautiful contributions the artistic world. Claude Monet died on December 5,1926 in Giverny. Monet became one of the most influential and studied artist of his time. He continue to influence upcoming artist to form new art movements even after the second World War.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born on February 25,1841 into a working class family. Renoir was the only Impressionists painter who was from the working class. He was known as the porcelain painter because of the beauty he gives to his paintings. His paintings reveal that he had a problem-free childhood and that he had a fanciful and daydreamy childhood. Renoir used his savings to take a course of study at the nearby art academy. He painted histories, myths and portraits and spent much of his time copying the masterpieces in the Louvre. Renoir painted many landscapes and social scenes, but his main focus was on the image of woman. After the death of Marie Antoinette, he painted image as many times as people demanded it. Renoir was a frank and unpretentious veiwer of the human being. After 1872, Renoir tried to break away from the ideals of Impressionism by painting the high society, but it attracted a great deal of favorable attention. He believed that it was the artists place to arrange the parts of a painting where the need to be placed.