Impressionism

Both French and Australian Impressionists painted rapidly in order to capture the scenario as see n outside and adopted the French technique of ‘broken colour’ was to apply quick, short and often thick brushstrokes to the canvas. Due to the ever changing light and atmosphere of the day, French Impressionist artists had to paint rapidly to achieve their aim of capturing a ‘fleeting moment in time’. This resulted in a textured, pastel like appearance. The sketchiness of the artwork was to convey something of the experience of the rapid movement or variety in a particular scene. Throughout the 19th century the industrial revolution contributed to Monet’s impressionist technique. Smaller canvases allowed the artists to venture into the outdoors, capturing the unattainable light and atmosphere of the day. Monet’s quick application of paint resulted in a ‘wishy washy’ interpretation of the scene. In Monet’s ‘Woman with a Parasol’, the depiction of a young woman has been sketchily applied in short brush strokes, portraying the strength of the wind as it blows through her hair. As the paint brush darts across the canvas it creates curvy lines in the sky creating a textured like appearance. Even though the climate and atmosphere of Australia and Europe are very different, the techniques used to portray them are the same. In Arthur Streeton’s ‘Impressions for Golden Summer’ (1888–89) the sunny atmospheric landscape of the countryside has been achieved through the quick short brush strokes of rustic oranges and bright yellows, depicting the strength of the sun. The quick brush stroke creates smears of white oil paint across of the orange landscape, highlighting the tips of the mound. The ‘broken colour technique’ came into play as French Impressionists used short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed colour applied directly onto the canvas to achieve the effect of the atmosphere. Using thin, broken layers of paint allowed the lower layers of colour to shine through. This created Monet’s work to give sketchy and loose impression of a landscape instead of a highly realistic one. In Monet’s ‘Impression – Sunrise’, it is clearly evident that Monet has used broken brush strokes to depict the ripples of the waves created by the gentle sea breeze. The smooth blends of mauve shine through the white layer of water, representing the depth and nature of the water. In Arthur Streeton’s ‘Spirit of the Drought’ his brush strokes were thinner had a more subtle approach in the layering of colours. The whites and creamy brands all mould together and as the hill gets higher the brush strokes and layering becomes harsher. The broken colour technique not only creates a visually appealing composition but symbolizes the many layers of earth and dust the land has gone through during the drought. Whilst Australian Impressionists adopted the ‘broken colour’ technique it was not to the extremities as the French, preferring to maintain characteristics of realism. Their brush strokes and application of paint was not as harsh as the French. In Arthur Streeton’s ‘Near Heidelberg’ (1890) he has depicted the eucalypt tree to have wavy, flowing tree branches when in actual fact their branches are quite straight and firm. The viewer is still able to depict the detail within the tree, through the Australian Impressionist’s realism style entwined into the impressionist style. The brown dirt beneath the trees can be seen through the defined green grass as the colours layer over each other to create a collaboration of mixed tones. Monet’s textural application of paint creates a blur of colours and undefined shapes than can only be made visible from a distance. In his piece, ‘The Japanese Bridge’ the heavy use of dark browns and vibrant greens have been heavily applied together to create the structure of the bridge above the rippling water. The use of lighter textured yellows and reds have been used beneath the bridge, giving emphasise and the importance to the bold structure of the bridge. Impressionist artists, in particular the French worked intensely on their use of colour focussing on recording the luminosity (radiating or reflecting light) of colour as a technique. French Impressionist artists captured the essence of light and colour through the rapid application of unmixed colours directly onto the canvas. Through the invention of new pigmentations, the colours were much brighter and easily available. Claude Monet juxtaposed and superimposed the unmixed paints onto the canvas. Monet’s pallet consisted of white, intense yellows and reds, bright blues and greens. He built up texture through his brushstrokes through tiny dabs of light, adding curves for definition and blending colours from dark to light. ‘The Argenteuil Bridge’ depicts vibrant yellows that reflect the sun’s rays onto the water’s surface and blends swiftly into the dark greens reflected from the trees on the edge of the mainland. The straight application of vibrant yellows and greens is evident in the trees as the colours highlight and stand out from the mixed colours around them, such as the combination of browns and blues used on the bridge. In a similar yet different style the Australian Impressionists captured the essence of light and colour. Australian Impressionists were more interested in the way light could evoke a particular emotion or mood. In Streeton’s ‘Fires On’ the rustic and earth shades communicate the intensity of the heat and its effect on the land. This was made possible through smooth brush strokes for the smoke but sharp jagged brush strokes for the rocks and trees. French impressionists substituted the dark harsh affects of black paint with the alternative of dark blues and deep purples. The blues and purples were used to depict shadowing and darker areas of the composition. Blues and purples were used to represent the reflectiveness and spontaneity of light and how it affects its surroundings. In many of Monet’s works he uses colours already present within his composition to create shadows and highlights, to create shadow and highlight. In Monet’s ‘The cliffs at Etretat’, the tips of the sharp rocky edges have been highlighted with yellow while the water under the rocks has been shadowed with the reflecting colours of purple and brown from the rock above. The combination of yellows and greens depicting the moss growing on the side of the rocks is also reflected throughout the water, representing the seaweed and mysteries lurking beneath the surface. Australian Impressionists used the dark blues and deep purples for shadows as well but also created their own style to match with their very different Australian environment. As the two environments are very different from each other the way in which they are painted is also. The constant use of rustic oranges and dark greens are used as an alternative in creating shadow. They represent the sunny dessert land of the Australian outback bush. In Streeton’s ‘Spirit of the Drought’ the tips of the dried out grass is highlighted with yellow while the dry tree stumps are filled with purple and orange to not only depict shadow but the intense rays of the sun. The background is also filled with the light tones of purple and blue that strengthen the other colours in the painting, which are also reflected in the grass and branches of the trees in the foreground. The realisation that the excess oil in the paint absorbed the light, artists eliminated as much oil as possible from the paint, in the hope that the light would bounce off and illuminate the work. In Monet’s ‘San Giorgio Maggiore-Soleil Couchant’ the viewer is able to feel the energy of the sun through the intense shades of red and orange that light up and illuminate the work. This creates a mystic sense as the illuminated sky is reflected onto the sparking water’s surface intensifying the radiance of the work to a new extreme. Similar to ‘The Point Wharf, Mosman Bay’ Streeton has illuminated his composition through the reflection of the sun’s rays onto the surface of the water. The intense shades of yellow stand out from the deep, pure blue used for the water, drawing the attention to the shimmering sunlight dancing on the surface of the water. This yellow has then been speckled across the surface of the water, creating a brighter and more exciting painting.