In the second half of 19th century, the technical issues about colour wheels and optics were raised and discussed.
The particular painter, the one that is mostly connected to that topic- is Georges Seurat. He studied at the famous Ecole des Beaux-Arts, founded by Louis XIVth in 1648 in Paris. It is a historical location, not so modern. But two years that the painter spent there, had a huge influence on his later work. In 1886, he was invited by Pissarro to exhibit in the last impressionist exhibition, which he did, with his large-scale painting- Sunday Afternoon on the Grande Jatte. Basically, Seurat mixed the influence of the grand masters, such as Piero della Francesca, with the new painting technique that he "invented"- the pointillism. He wanted to prove that the modern world could be just as monumental, heroic and beautiful as the ancient one.
Seurat was secretive, there is not so much knowledge about his private life. He experimented with colour. There is a difference between colour the pigment and colour the light. So, he mixes colour not on the canvas, but "in your eyes" by placing tiny dots of different, scientifically calculated colours, next to each other.
Vincent van Gogh, everybody knows the name, even people completely uninterested in art. He made a huge impact on the young artist, lived in Paris in 1886. But was studying in the bar, and not for the law degree. 😊
He was a difficult man, with no personal hygiene and drank like a fish. With huge talent and long working (painting) hours. Vincent was interested and influenced by Japanese prints, popular at that time.
Japonisme, a phenomenon that occurred at that time, was the result of Japan being closed for centuries, and as the Japan opened its borders for foreign trade in 1858, Europe was flooded and fascinated by the beautiful art of ukiyo-e, Japanese woodblock prints. Artists copied it, and so did Vincent.
Claude Monet, a true hero of impressionism, moved to Giverny, where he painted haystacks and garden, but mostly- the water. In his old age, to commemorate the end of WWI, he offered a French state to paint a grand scale painting of water lilies. Musee de l'Orangerie holds this circular larger than life painting and is called "Sistine of Impressionism". The painting captured the shimmering and reflecting water, kind of shifted reality.
So, to summon in one sentence those beautiful four episodes, the author took the impressionism out of the chocolate box and brought it back into the furnace. Because the impressionism was just that- brave, fiery, inventive and revolutionary.
Waldemar Januszczak: "This art will never be tamed"