The Impressionist Landscape: Style, Place and Global Legacies 1870-1920

3 units

We will consider Impressionism as a dominant style of the Parisian art world, first undertaken as an extension of Barbizon naturalism, but soon expanded into an avant-garde style that objectified sensation and emotion in the name of truth in representation. We will examine the place of individual perception, the physiology of sight, and theories of the natural in the development of the Impressionist landscape, through the consideration of style, genre, artistic theory, and these artists' investment in particular sites. Furthermore, the social, commercial and critical networks that supported the movement will be analyzed. Particular attention will be given to Monet, and a special exhibition of his water lily paintings on view at the St Louis Art Museum. Other key artists include Degas, Morisot, Renoir, and Cassatt. We will also discuss the relationship of the Impressionist landscape to the development of modernist abstraction, and the aesthetic and nationalist motivations for its appropriation across the globe. Prerequisite: Introduction to Western Art; Introduction to Modern Art, or permission of instructor.