Example research essay topic: Claude Monet Edgar Degas - 1,430 words

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Impressionism was the most important Art movement of the nineteenth century, having a great influence on the development of Modern Art. The name impressionism itself comes from a painting Impression sunrise created by Claude Monet (a member of the group) being influenced by Japanese Art 1863 was considered to be the start of Impressionism. However the name of the group did not appear until 1874, when the first exhibition was held. Impressionism consisted of landscapes, seascapes, snow scenes, ballet dancers, horses, everyday life and still life but the most common themes were seascapes and landscapes. It consisted of a fairly loose group of painters who first got together because of their dissatisfaction of Academic Art and who opposed to the romantic idea thats main purpose was to create emotional excitement. These rebels were Claude Monet main artist of group- Edgar Degas, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Henri Toulouse Lautrec, Alfred Sisley and Edouard Manet all exploring ways of showing color and light whilst painting outdoors in front of their chosen subject matter and trying to capture the constantly changing qualities and effects of natural light.

Born in Paris on the 14 th of November 1840, Claude Monet was the main artist of the impressionist group. His childhood was spent in Normandy where he met the artist Boudin who influenced Monet's paintings of landscapes and seascapes by encouraging him to paint outdoors. Pissarro, Jong kind and also influenced Monet in a subtle way. Then Monet moved back to Paris and met Camille, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley and the rest of the impressionist group.

Then in 1870 Monet married Camille Doncieux. He then went to Le Havre and because of his fear of being called into the French army, he left for England and his wife was sent after him. There Monet painted several London scenes and saw the paintings of Constable and Turner. The war ended in 1872, resulting in Monet moving back to France and setting up a house just outside Paris. Here he began a fruitful period of paintings with Renoir, Manet and Sisley.

Then in 1878 he moved and became friends with Ernest Hoschede who left his wife and children with Monet and disappeared the year after Monet's wife died, as a result of him becoming bankrupt. Then in 1881 the original impressionist group started to disintegrate but Monet continued with his obsession with light. And moved to Giverny, where he created a now famous water lily garden with a Japanese bridge. In 1892 Monet married Hoschedes now widowed wife who also passed away in 1911. Leaving Monet behind for 11 years before he himself passed away at the age of eighty six.

Claude Monet painted around two hundred and forty nine paintings of landscapes, which can be found in galleries all over the world. Such a series of paintings was the study of watercolors painted in 1908. Monet's idea was to paint a series of water lilies large enough to encircle the rotunda of the Salon, enclosing spectators of all sides. In these paintings we can see that as the years progressed Monet's paintings became less representational and more abstract full of shimmering light and color, with flickering brushstrokes.

Another painting by Monet is Le Djuener, painted in 1872. In the painting we see a lunch table which to Monet suggested a tempo style of life which was idyllic. There is a nice use of color in this still life / landscape , as in it there are many flowers and Monet paints them with a seldom use of detail. Despite struggles with actual technicalities of the painting and the exasperating gap between the concept and execution, many impressionist painters had a pleasant life, escaping to some rural heaven such as this one. This piece was put out on exhibition and was quickly sold.

Another member of the Impressionist group was Pierre Auguste Renoir. Born in 1841, Renoir originally trained as a porcelain painter and he made his transition from artisan to artist at the age of nineteen. Although there were many changes to style during his long career, Renoir always painted happier aspects of life, expressing joyful emotions. His paintings conveyed an impression of a dreamy and carefree world full of light and shimmering colors. Early on in his career, Renoir found the critics ponderously condemn his work but by the time he was forty he had established his name as a society portrait painter, painting ranges of portraits his friends relaxing and latterly nudes. Later on in life he became crippled by rheumatism and he moved to Rivera.

However despite his illness he continued to paint until his death in 1919. The Umbrellas - painted in 1881 to 1886 - is a typical Renoir painting with a theme taken from everyday life. The canopy of umbrella encloses the scene and makes the viewer part of the action. Two figures appear to be looking at us there is a woman carrying a basket and a young girl with a little hoop. Colors like blue; lilac and grey are governing colors emphasizing a dull and dreary day in Paris. There is a continuous use of feathery brushstrokes but the lines on the girl are more rigid, especially on her hair.

Renoir painted Luncheon of Boating Party in 1881. He began it in open air and completed it in his studio. Looking at the painting you feel like you are a part of the scene, which can be conveyed as happy and quite light hearted. The figures in this painting as well as the remaining meal are clearly painted in quite a lot of detail. The background however is typically impressionist in contrast with his friend Degas. Born in 1834, Edgar Degas came from a wealthy family and when he was young he spent most of his time in the galleries of France and Italy.

Through these regular visits, Degas was very much influenced by the art of Be lacroix (color) and Ingres (line). His early paintings were classical in style but then Degas moved onto painting horse races. Then we saw him painting scenes from theatre, ballet, caf, horse races and women at work. In 1870 he went and fought for France in the Franco-Prussian war and on his return to Paris he began to paint intent figure groups including dancers and the orchestra. Then in 1872 he went to New Orleans, USA, where he continued to paint.

One such painted he developed when he was there was the New Orleans Cotton Office. Then when he finally returned to Paris he exhibited his work with impressionists and by the late 1870 s he had found a movement that best suited him pastel. He had also developed a new approach to composition using unusual angles of vision including views of figures from above and below being influenced by Japanese prints. From 1880 Degas also began modeling in wax as a preparations for bronze castings. Now Degas is remembered as a master of human figures in movement and although he wasnt as interested in light as some of the other impressionist artists but more in capturing the fleeting moment. He influenced younger artists like Vuillaro and Denis.

Degas passed away in 1917 at the age of 83. Degas painted Dance Foyer at the Opera of the Rue Le Peletier in 1872. He painted this as a result of the Japanese prints, where he had adopted an asymmetrical grouping in his work, in which the central area is empty. The scheme of this painting is of various whites gauze's and muslins, fluttering around the apartment and the ballet master in the middle in white ducks and jackets.

All shifts of indoor light and color can be seen and the girls are all painted in some sort of movement some are strained and some in rest. This is expressed with the most perfect precision of drawing and delicacy of colors and is without a shadow of a shade, having the ballet for its subject. Another ballet picture painted by Degas is The Dancing Class. This is an informal picture of a lesson in a rehearsal room. In it instead of depicting a famous ballerina in her costume for her role, Degas turns his attention to the day to day training of the anonymous young dancers in the chorus.

In conclusion, it can be said that Impressionism didnt consist of artists who all had the same style and thoughts about painting but of those who agreed with the social, realistic attitude that an artists task is to record life in an unsentimental way.

Research essay sample on Claude Monet Edgar Degas