Wenqi Gu

1098079

AHIS20016 Art and Revolution

Breaking Traditions, Dipicting Modernity: Monet, Renoir, Degas

and Morisot’s Sadness

During the post-revolutionary period in 19th century France, not

only the society and economy experienced tremendous changes,

but also art and culture tried to find a new way to represent their

time, instead of being trapped in limits set by the official salon.

During this period, the emergence of Impressionism can be seen

as an important part. The new art form is seen as a reflection of

the social and cultural progress through betraying the conventional

drawing rules set by the Academy, depicting leisure pleasure

pursued by the emerging middle class in urban and rural

landscapes and individualism. Among them, several Impressionist

painters rose to make a name after the Revolution. The essay will

discuss the works of Claude Monet, Pierre-August Renoir, Edgar

Degas and the female artist Berthe Morisot to put an insight into

how they respond to modernity.

authenticity and a feeling of being spontaneous to convey the

modernity when they drew en plein air to capture the fleeting

movement.1 After the Revolution, artists no longer needed the

approval of the Academy to make a living. Because of the free

market that had been established in the Third Republic, artists

could pursue a free career. New drawing methods were taken to

be applied on the canvas. For example, as seen in Boulevard des

Capucines, there is not a specific optical point in the picture

(Fig.1). When viewing the painting, the viewer’s eyes won’t focus

on one exact object. The diagonal view is also unusual to

conventions set by the Academy, which seems to cut through the

composition and the framing of the work. Hence, the whole picture

presented a fragmented feeling. Walkers were isolated on the

street. The picture was misty and blue. In the cold winter, an

impression of city loneliness and sadness was left on the canvas.

This is what Jules-Antoine Castagnary said “They are

Impressionists in the sense that they render not the landscape but

1
Anthea, Callen, ‘‘Artless’ Simplicity,’ in The Art of Impressionism: Painting Technique & the
Making of Modernity, eds. A. Callen (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000),
156.
the sensation produced by the landscape”.2 The general feeling of

the whole picture outweighed the depiction of the specific objects

because the impressionists began to turn inward and focus on

their own personal experiences. They moved out of their studio to

draw under the natural light. Composition was also presented in a

different way from that in the former painting style like neo-

classism, which emphasized perspective. For instance, in Bathers

at La Grenouillere (Fig.2, 1869), Monet set a horizontal jetty to

break the composition. The depth of the pictorial space was

abandoned. Instead of emphasizing aerial perspective,

chiaroscuro and shading, the painter attached more attention to

the material surface of the painting. It is not like a polished surface

of a mirror anymore. Its appearance is textured and rough. At the

same time, because the paintings were drawn outdoors in a

hurried way, the painters could not bring enough brushes or

pigments with them. As a result, the colors on Impressionist

paintings often only contained a few pigments.3 Just as seen in

Bathers at La Grenouillere, different colors were mixed together in

an unordered way (Fig. 2).

2
S. Eisenman, “The Intransigent Artist or How the Impressionists Got Their Name,” in The
New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886, eds. C. S. Moffett and R. Brettell (Seattle: R.
Burton, 1986), 51–52.
3
Callen, ‘‘Artless’ Simplicity,’ 157.
Fig.1. Claude Monet. Boulevard des Capucines, 1873. Oil on Canvas. Nelson-Atkins Museum
of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.

Not only focusing on the whole sensation and breaking up

traditional compositions, Impressionists also used patches of color

an obvious contrast, the vibrancy of the painting was enhanced.4

For instance, in Bathers at La Grenouillere, large blocks of grey

and green were put on the canvas at the same time. Hence, green

looked brighter with the comparison of grey. The trees became

lively in the picture. At the same time, the dim color blocks on the

ships in the foreground, and the white, shimmering pigment

patches in the figures in the background created a juxtaposition,

enabling the scene to be vibrant and energetic. The dark and light

strokes in the river in the foreground indicated the movement of

the currents and the light reflected by the water. In the

background, white strokes were used by Monet to draw the light

reflected in the water and people’s bodies. Thus, the pleasure and

comfort of soaking in the water in a summer day was implied by

the artist.

4
Callen, ‘‘Artless’ Simplicity,’ 157.
Fig.2. Claude Monet. Bathers at La Grenouillère, 1869. Oil on Canvas. National Gallery,
London.

In addition, in Impressionism, leisure was depicted to indicate

modern life, instead of the grandeur of historical events and

mythical stories. With the industrialization of society, the emergent

middle class was given more free time and extra money to spend.

For example, in The Swing of Pierre-August Renoir, the middle-

class figures were enjoying their free social space. In the

foreground, four figures were in a conversation. A lady was behind

the swing (Fig. 3). The man who turned his back to the viewer was

talking to the lady. Her face blushed in the talk. Different tints and
shades placed together enhanced the luminance of her white and

blue dress. Another man was leaning against the tree. The sunlight

cast through trees on the ground like a carpet of flowers. The

painting presented a carefree and delightful atmosphere. Leisure

time can be viewed as a symbol of the status of the middle-class

who sought to show their economic power to differentiate

themselves from the working class.

Fig.3. Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The Swing, 1876. Oil on canvas, H. 92; W. 73 cm. Musée
d'Orsay, Paris.
At the same time, rural landscape experience rose to become

another status of defining the class.5 As the increasing

urbanization went on, cities became more and more crowded. With

the convenience brought by the development of vehicles, the

bourgeois were able to spend their weekend in suburban areas.

Getting close to nature was viewed by the new emerging class to

define their identity as a representation of modernity, to whom how

to view and understand space was also a way of building a

bourgeois status.6 Hence, the depiction of suburban pleasures

was rendered by Impressionists. For example, in Fisherman with

rod and line, two well-dressed figures were in the countryside (Fig.

4). The water drops which went from the rod to the green river

were drawn through bright colors to make the scene lively and

interesting. The wrinkles on the wide dress of the lady were

depicted by black strokes to convey a soft feeling. The whole

painting looked picturesque. Hence, the pleasure of fishing and

reading in a rural scene far from the noisy city was captured by

Renoir to show that the bourgeois could enjoy their time without

being trapped in the city.

5
Greg M Thomas, “The Topographical Aesthetic in French Tourism and
Landscape,” Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 1, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 12,
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=vth&AN=32727731
&site=eds-live&scope=site.
6
Thomas, “The Topographical Aesthetic in French Tourism and Landscape,” 12.
Fig.4. Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Fisherman with rod and line, 1874. Oil on canvas, 21 ¼ x 25
5/8 in. (54.1 x 65.2 cm).

In addition to draw recreation in peripheral districts of cities, the

subject of urban landscapes such as cafés and boulevards was

also a significant part of the way the artists exploited to depict

modernity. The free enterprise brought retailing businesses,

shopping, opportunities for work and the mode of entertainment

and display. On the boulevard, the bourgeois could walk in a slow

and relaxed way to display themselves or to see what was on

display. Just as depicted in Monet’s Boulevard des Capucines,

these city walkers and cabs were out on the street to show the

lively aspect of a metropolitan (Fig.5). The two gentlemen were

displayed made up a part of the modern free enterprise.

Fig.5. Claud Monet. Boulevard des Capucines, 1873. Oil on canvas, 61х80 cm. The Pushkin
State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

Besides, individualism can also be seen as a representation of

modernity documented by artists. As Eisenman mentioned,

individualism freed citizens from a weak tie to former social,

economic and religious doctrines.7 The respect for old hierarchies

was damaged by the relatively wealthy middle class. Hence,

individualism and personal feelings were emphasized by

7
Eisenman, “The Intransigent Artist or How the Impressionists Got Their Name,” 52.
impressionists. For example, in his 1870’s paintings, Edgar Degas

spent more effort in drawing the features of peoples’ faces,

gestures, clothes, expressions and spaces to present an

atmosphere of the scattered and fragmented.8 In the isolated

figures depicted by Degas, he probably wanted to indicate that

individualism also made the distance between citizens farther than

before. In Degas’s Place de la Concorde, the clothes and hats

worn by the two gentlemen and the two girls implied that they were

at least from the middle class (Fig. 6). However, they didn’t have

any eye contact. They all looked at different directions. At the

same time, the artist made use of a lateral composition to indicate

that relations between human beings had become more distant

and indifferent. It seemed that everyone only care about his or her

own business. Hence this kind of belief that personal benefits and

freedom outweighed the collective interests was presented by the

artist as an aspect of modern society to reflect people’s relations.

8
Lewis, Mary Tompkins, Martha Ward, T. J. Clark, John House, Lawrence Gowing, and
Tamar Garb, Critical Readings in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: An Anthology.
(University of California Press, 2014), under “Duranty on Degas: A Theory of Modern
Painting,”
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=cat00006a&AN=mel
b.b6007356&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Fig.6. Edgar Degas. Place de la Concorde: Vicomte Lepic and his daughters, c.1875-77. Oil
on canvas, 78 x 118 cm. Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.

Last but not least, the drawing of working women in public

entertainment scenes was also a representation of the modernity

in the Third Republic. Women often occurred in society as “artists,

performers, and members of the audience at musical events”.9

In Singer with a Glove, the singer’s exaggerated gesture and the

vulgar colour mix of orange, yellow and green showed the woman

may be from the petit bourgeois, a relatively lower middle class

(Fig. 7). The singer’s raised hand, open mouth and the strength in

her expression made her funny, but not elegant. At the same time,

paintings related to the theatre scenes represented the rising

9
“Gallery Text,” Harvard Art Museums, https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/228652.
significance of urban pleasure and consuming pursue in a newly

built society.10

Fig.7. Edgar Degas. Singer with a Glove, c. 1878. Pastel on canvas, 53.2 x 41 cm (20 15/16 x
16 1/8 in.). Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Cambridge.

10
“Gallery Text.”
Fig.8. Berthe Morisot. Summer's Day, 1879.

However, Monet’s fellow Berthe Morisot depicted women in a

sense which was totally different from him. In Summer’s Day, the

two well-dressed ladies seemed to enjoy their free time (Fig.8).

However, from their expression, a sense of being nervous and

worried was conveyed. In Morisot’s time, women were put in a low

place by men. Hence, it’s probable that the two ladies on the boat

were worried about being gazed at by people passing by them.

The same sadness and worry can also be seen in Woman and

Child on the Balcony (Fig.9). Although the little girl was standing

beside the lady, it seemed that the women was worrying her own

business, without showing too much care for the girl. The artist

captured the frustration and sadness through depicting her

melancholy expression and her black dress. Women under the

sometimes sad or frustrated as well. On one hand, Morisot’s

“ladies” satisfied the expectation of the French society to a woman,

like, behaving womanly, without threatening the social orders. On

the other hand, she documented the uncertain or frustrating or sad

feelings from her female models in a time when the new-emerging

bourgeois showed an unfriendly attitude towards the female and

female artist.

Although Impressionism was criticized as not masculine and

rational because it focused on sensation, Morisot used her painting

to give the new method of sensing respect and dignity, which

separate her from other male artists.11 Her artworks were

accepted as adjusted to femininity well by most part critics in the

1890s.12 As a female artist, Morisot rendered a different view of

depicting women. However, she still followed the rules of the social

class, depicting elegant or delicate women, in a safe but sad way.

11
T. Garb, “Berthe Morisot and the Feminizing of Impressionism,” in Critical Readings in
Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, ed. M. Tompkins Lewis (Berkeley, Los Angeles,
London: California Press, 2007), 198.
12
Garb, “Berthe Morisot,” 198.
Fig.9. Berthe Morisot. Woman and Child on the Balcony, 1872. Oil on canvas.

In collusion, European art, especially the Impressionism artist in

the19th century documented the modern to represent their time.

During this period, artist like Claude Monet, Pierre-August Renoir

and Edgar Degas depicted sensation, middle-class leisure

pleasure, urban and rural scenes, individualism and women

excellent talent in the male dominated world to depict women in a

different way from her male fellows like Degas. However, it was a

pity that she still needed to draw under the requirements of the

social order, which was typical of her time.

Painting Technique & the Making of Modernity, edited by A.

Callen, 156–76. New Haven and London: Yale University Press,

2000.

Eisenman, S. “The Intransigent Artist or How the Impressionists

Got Their Name”. In The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886,

edited by C. S. Moffett and R. Brettell, 51–57. Seattle: R. Burton,

1986.

Garb, T. “Berthe Morisot and the Feminizing of Impressionism.” In

Critical Readings in Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, edited

by M. Tompkins Lewis, 191–202. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London:

California Press, 2007.

Harvard Art Museums. “Gallery Text.”

https://harvardartmuseums.org/art/228652.

Lewis, Tompkins Mary, Ward Martha, Clark T. J., House John,

Gowing Lawrence, and Garb Tamar. Critical Readings in

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: An Anthology. 1st ed.

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ss

o&db=cat00006a&AN=melb.b6007356&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Thomas, Greg M. “The Topographical Aesthetic in French Tourism

and Landscape.” Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide 1, no. 1

(Spring 2002): 12.

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ss

o&db=vth&AN=32727731&site=eds-live&scope=site.