Grose Evans

“ The eye is often uncertain of the surfaces of these rocks; their directions in space are ill-defined and one form is not connected with another. But viewing the work broadly, we are conscious of the painter’s power. How solidly the man spearing a fish stands before the opening of the spacious cavern and how substantially the huge masses of rock swell forward from the darkness! With his powerful, unorthodox style, Courbet broke radically with traditional modes of painting “to transcribe,” as he said, “the customs, ideas, the appearances,” of his time, “in a word, to create a living art.” ”

“ By nature Renoir was too sympathetic with his fellow man—and too charmed by the loveliness of women and children—to be content with the strict limits of Monet’s Impressionism. Merely painting sensations of light in a landscape did not satisfy the humanist Renoir. Once he showed a friend a delicately tinted sketch of rose petals and told him it was really a study for flesh tones. “For me,” he said, “a painting should be a lovable thing, gay and pretty; yes, pretty. There are enough things to bore us in life without our making more of them.” ”

“ Degas, son of a wealthy banker, received a thorough classical education and 9 learned painting from a pupil of Ingres. In his compositions, he preserved a classical sense of order which was quite foreign to Impressionist aims. As he said, “No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I accomplish is the result of reflection upon and study of the old masters....” Yet he reshaped conventional ideas of composition by drawing his subjects from life and refining his outlines after the example of Japanese prints. ”

“ Every touch of paint, like a link in a chain, must contribute to the consistent unity of the picture. He believed a picture should give a unified sensation in which “every color-touch must contain air, light, the object, the plane, the character, the drawing, the style.” By abstracting nature into the painter’s colored planes, Cézanne paved the way for the abstract styles of the present century. ”

“ The real subject is yourself; it is your impressions, your emotions before nature. You must search within yourself, not look about you.” Delacroix’s life was embittered by the jealous rivalry of Ingres, who called him “the apostle of ugliness” and prevented him from teaching in the Academy, but his daring use of color was to influence many later painters.
In the Romantic era, nature, which had been neglected as long as the classical tradition prevailed, was extolled by poets and painted by outstanding masters. ”

“ Firmly established academic painters bitterly opposed all young artists who tried to create new styles, and the inertia of popular taste lent such authority to the Academy that artists could only be original at their own peril.
The academic style grew out of the classical idealism of Jacques-Louis David (page 13) . He rose to fame during the French Revolution (1789-95) by producing pictures with propaganda content and attained great prominence as “the painter of the people.” Son of a Paris tradesman, David had been fortunate enough to study painting in the French Royal Academy. ”

“ A careful rendering of objects selected for their varied colors, shapes, and textures and neatly arranged on a table top is a perfect vehicle for the display of Fantin-Latour’s technical facility. A companion of artists with such diverse tastes as Ingres, Delacroix, Corot, Courbet, and Whistler, he created a delicate art which appealed to all. The objects in this still life have been skillfully placed on the table to establish a self-contained pictorial composition. ”

“ But, constantly rebuffed by critics and even scorned by Zola, who failed to see any promise in his forceful early works, Cézanne withdrew to live in Provence during the 1880’s and perfected his individual style. His methods paved the way for the abstract painting of our own day. In his old age a number of young artists and critics sought him out and he enjoyed a small degree of recognition within his lifetime. His work, together with that of Manet, Monet, Degas, Lautrec, van Gogh, and Gauguin, has become the most popular painting today. ”

“ The artist has found himself in a disquieting, primeval world where rich tropical colors and exotic forms of life, both human and vegetable, engender a haunting air of mystery. Gauguin painted this in 1892, during his second year in Tahiti. He had fled from Western civilization for he believed its materialistic culture rejected the artist as a useful citizen. He turned to the Pacific islands because he felt the need to become a primitive in both life and art. Only by returning to the primitive’s simple standards might man rediscover significant meaning in his life and work. ”

“ After he returned to Paris, in 1824, Ingres’ ideal of perfectionism came to dominate academic art.
Behind it the Academy had the weight of traditionally accepted theory and the splendid accomplishments of the Old Masters. The theory, growing from ancient classical concepts of art, seemed infallible and, on such a theoretical basis, the five hundred years preceding the nineteenth century had produced an extremely impressive art. Imitation of idealized figures was the chief aim of the academic painter. By showing nature “as it 3 ought to be,” the artist served philosophical and ethical ends ”

“ This big, boisterous son of a wealthy farmer in Ornans came to Paris in 1842. After a few lessons, Courbet taught himself to paint, chiefly by copying in the Louvre galleries. His large, coarsely executed pictures of common people shocked most of his contemporaries. When his work was refused at the International Exhibition of 1855, he opened his own pavilion, boldly titling it “Le Pavillon du Réalisme.” Among his best-known sayings are, “Painting should consist only in the depiction of things visible and tangible to the artist,” and, “Show me an angel, and then I’ll paint it.” ”

“ Both Daumier’s and Courbet’s realism depended upon their acceptance of everyday subjects as worthy of being painted. But realism could be manifest, too, in meticulous attention to details. Henri Fantin-Latour (page 25) , a friend of our American painter Whistler, exhibits this exacting realism in portraits and still-life pictures. Strongly influenced by the early developments in photography, he produced works which, because they were pleasant and unassuming, were often shown at the annual Salon beside the conservative paintings of approved academicians. ”

“ As a delicate boy of fourteen he injured both his legs so that they failed to grow. His father, Count Alphonse de Toulouse, had no patience with his weakling heir, but his mother encouraged him to paint. In 1885 he turned his back upon the academic style and, taking hints from the free brushwork of the Impressionists and from Japanese designs, Lautrec began to paint his pictures of Parisian night life, circus performers, and cabaret entertainers. Degas, at first hostile toward him, eventually declared, “Well, Lautrec, I can see you are one of our trade.” ”

“ On this premise art had been raised during the Renaissance from a handicraft to rank with the liberal arts. Academies had arisen to prove the merits of art, and why should such august institutions be challenged? ”