Impressionism — part (b)

I’ve demonstrated - by use of just a single example here (!) – that one primary and initial objective of the Impressionist school of painters was to break away from the traditionalists just in terms of subject matter (never minding the style in which they painted those subjects). Provocative group portraiture, urban street scenes, portraits of less-privileged and working class people – all of these became mainstays of the French Impressionist school. To the point that the traditional, national institutions which supported the arts in Paris turned away many pieces of their work, so forcing the artists to mount their own exhibitions outside of what was considered to be the mainstream opportunity for recognition and reward.

Even compositionally, matters were progressive for these artists before their painting style had developed truly impressionistic features. In the single example already used, there is a still life assembly included (with a certain deliberation) in the foreground. Below there’s another early work by Manet: ‘Le Balcon’ (1868-1869), one which was accepted for the official Paris Salon of 1869. Nevertheless, it’s clear that there is a lot of experimentation going on here. From a compositional standpoint, the work as a whole is disconcerting, with each of the three principal figures gazing off in totally different directions. Also, they are painted in different ways. And then there’s a fourth figure in the background. It’s as if nobody in the group knows one another or is meant to know the others …. Again there are “added” still life components in the foreground – in fact, only the flowers at the far left (plus the lady’s dresses) are really painted in what would become to be considered as the standard impressionistic (?) – certainly less-defined – manner.

It’s always been an intrigue to me as to why the French Impressionists worked so hard on still life subjects. The best of the work accomplished in just this narrow specialization is truly stunning. But, was this influenced in any way by progress made within the photographic arts during the same time period? I’ll be returning to this topic later, particularly with reference to the work of Gustave Courbet.