Art Movements and Key Artists from the Mid-1800s to Post-Impressionism

Societal Changes and the Realist Movement

• Post-American and French revolutions led to focus on people's needs and rights.
• Influenced artists, leading to the realist movement.
• Realism focused on painting unidealized real life.

Jean-Baptiste Camille Carreau

• Developed new brushwork techniques for capturing nature.
• Wispy strokes, light touch, and feathering technique.
• Worked outside, added white to paints for true nature colors.
• Aimed to capture natural light.
• Considered the first Impressionist.

Edward Manet

• Bridged gap between Realism and Impressionism.
• Influenced by Asian art, particularly Japanese prints.
• Used patches of color instead of gradual gradients.
• Brushwork similar to Impressionists: individual, short, directional strokes.
• Popularized painting a la prima (single layer, impasto paint).
• Inspirational to Impressionists but not considered one due to use of black.

Technological and Material Innovations

• Invention of the camera freed artists from realistic representations.
• Paint tubes and ready-made canvases allowed outdoor painting.
• Led to development of quicker painting techniques, crucial for Impressionism.

Claude Monet

• Foundational member of Impressionism alongside Renoir.
• Developed quick, short brushstrokes due to changing light when painting outdoors.
• Added white to colors for light reflection.
• Developed a system of shorter brushstrokes for outdoor painting.
• Style evolved from typical Impressionism to thinner style later in career.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

• Original Impressionist, worked alongside Monet.
• Used thinner paint, translucent layers like watercolor.
• Applied colors wet on wet, slurring them with free brushwork.
• Incorporated Cézanne's brushstrokes, moving towards Post-Impressionism.

Paul Cézanne

• Crossed multiple stylistic categories, focused on reflecting nature simply.
• Used dark outlines, incorrect perspective, flat planes of color.
• Known for rhythmic directional brushstrokes.
• Bridged gap between Impressionism and Cubism.
• Considered the father of modern art.

Neo-Impressionism

• Artists sought order in brushwork, resulting in uniform strokes.
• Neo-Impressionists used pure color, laid side-by-side for optical mixing.
• Georges Seurat invented pointillism, using dots for shimmering light effect.

Post-Impressionism

• Focused on emotions over realistic representation.
• Colors simplified, forms harshly defined.
• Key artists: Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin.

Vincent van Gogh

• Felt Impressionism lacked artistic expression.
• Used rhythmic directional brushstrokes, bold color schemes, heavy impasto.
• Expressive force over technique.

Paul Gauguin

• Painted large flat areas of color, often referred to as Cloisonnism.
• Style reminiscent of pre-Renaissance tempera paintings.
• Focus on shape, color, and line anticipated future art movements.