Preferences and Perspectives - The Romantic Era
Edgar Degas, Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas, 1872
Edgar Degas was a French impressionist artist, and he was the only Import French painter of the impressionist generation to travel to the United States and paint American subject matters. Edgar Degas was raised in France, but he called himself "son of Louisiana." This was because Degas's mother was born in Louisiana. Degas is known for his impressionist artwork capturing dancers. Although what I am focusing on is the work he did in New Orleans during his five months abroad. This was when the Civil War had recently ended, and the city of New Orleans had just been ravaged. Degas captured enduring portraits of his Creole family and scenes of the bustling and recovering city of New Orleans. The painting above, Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas, is a painting of Edgar Degas's sister in law who was blind. It was said that Degas painted this portrait to reconcile himself because he had failing eyesight. This portrait also captures the rapidly fading way of life of the city's French-speaking Creoles of New Orleans.
I love how impressionism captures the charm of simple yet beautiful moments in life and sceneries using colors that show the play of light in real-time and prominent brush stroke lines. I enjoy the Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas because it is a painting of a woman using touch and smell to arrange that beautiful bouquet. He uses earth tones for the background that make the flowers stand out. Estelle and the bouquet are the focus. I love the light that comes through the window, reflecting on the table and highlighting the moment in the painting. I picked this painting because I have seen it in person at the New Orleans Museum of Art. I am half Creole, and my father's side of the family lives in New Orleans. I found Edgar Degas's paintings of New Orleans enjoyable, mainly due to the history and time he was there and his painting subject. I have a connection to this painting.
Marsden Hartley was one of the many artists influenced by the early 20th-century turn to a new subject of different climates, cultures, and peoples contained within the United States. In 1908 Harley moved to a remote abandoned farm near Lovell, Main. There he produced a series of experimental winter landscape paintings. Hartley wanted to capture the emotional undercurrents within the entire Main coast. A quote that he said explained his goal of the painting was to create "a fresh relationship to the course of the sun and the living swing of the earth - a new fire of affection for the living essence present everywhere." When The Ice Hole was exhibited, American art critics were in shock. One critic even said that the painting by Hartley "irritated the retina and exhausted it." This painting stands out to me as a prime example of impressionism art. The use of colors portraying the light in real-time is used so well here; there is a composition used with the colors and the treeing in the foreground and the trees in the background. The reflection of light on the ice is done beautifully, showing the reflection on the sky. This painting resonates with me, reflecting light on a sunny winter, reflecting off the trees and the snow. The brush-stroked in this painting are also vigorous and give this painting a lot of texture. This is gorgeous, and even more so in person. I would love to own this painting.
Gustave Courbet, The Calm Sea, 1869
Gustave Courbet was a French painter and chief figure in the Realist movement of the mid-nineteenth century. Courbet was a key influence on the Impressionists. Courbet's paintings often contained a heartfelt bleakness and were commended for their precision and use of light. Courbet painted The Calm Sea, a view looking out over the English Channel in 1869. The ocean has lowered to a low tide, and two small boats are painted left on the shore. The composition is soft in the painting, capturing the nature of the beach perfectly. There is an endless sky towering over thin traces of water on the sandy beach. This painting captures a moment of the beach during low tide beautifully. I enjoy the lighting that reflects on the ocean and the traces of water left on the beach. You can see the shadowing of the towering sky from the shadowing in the sandy beach, the foreground of the painting. This painting is calm and captures no theatricality. This painting reminds me of winter days and low tide beach walks in California.
Jean-François Millet was a Realism French painter whose humble manner of living made him see Godliness and virtue in physical labor. He is best known for his paintings of peasants toiling in rural landscapes and the religious sub-texts that often accompanied them. One of his famous paintings is L'Angelus. It is a painting of two people stopping to pray when they hear the church bells ringing in the middle of work. Millet has a unique style of painting. He captures something dear to him. This painting is also a possible memory of his grandmother, who would have everyone stop during their work to pay when they heard the bell ring. I enjoy Millets work, and realism style painting—Millet's use of lighting shows the time of day and the sun setting in the background. The people in the painting are backlit, and you cannot put a face to them. They are not a specific individual. They represent humanity, a message seen in his paintings—the virtue of hard work and Godliness in humankind.
Realism influenced the Impressionists, and I enjoy the realism style of painting because they are a sense of truth. Although I do enjoy Realism, I love impressionist style art. With Impressionism, I am drawn to the uniqueness of brush strokes, textures, use of lighting, and subject matters.
References
“Object Lesson: Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas by Edgar Degas.” New Orleans Museum of Art, 25 Oct. 2021, https://noma.org/object-lesson-portrait-of-estelle-musson-degas-by-edgar-degas/.
“Millet Paintings, Bio, Ideas.” The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/millet-jean-francois/.
“Millet, L'Angelus (Video) | Realism.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/realism/v/millet-l-ang-lus-ca-1857-1859.
Hi Shay, I really liked reading your blog post about the Romantic Era. I personally like the impressionist style more because of the art techniques the artist used with their brushes to create the beautiful painting. The impressionist artist Edgar Degas, who painted the Portrait of Estelle Musson Degas is my favorite pick out of all the paintings you wrote about. I think you did a great job discussing the elements of art for each painting, especially when you said "the use of colors portraying the light in real-time is used so well here". One thing I learned from your blog post was that realism influenced the impressionist.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog and viewing the works you chose. Something that's very interesting to me about this time is that you feel almost as if you could walk right into the paintings. The Calm Sea and L'Angelus in particular just give such a strong sense of reality, and I find that quite beautiful.
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