Hello and welcome back to my studio.
Today it's part 4 of my epic impressionist painting series.
Now we're going to look at contemporary impressionism from the post impressionists
through to our modern contemporary setting.
Why is impressionism still so influential today?
We're going to look at a few of those
things and especially in relation to different countries around the world
and picking out a few standout artists as well.
You're going to find out what makes impressionism still so important and why
impressionism may be just the thing you're looking for.
Okay, we've seen how impressionism pursued
light and atmosphere, and artists looked at things like optical mixing of color.
But impressionism was not a closed subject.
It was basically freedom.
And once freedom is out, it keeps going and expanding and evolving.
And that's exactly what happened with the French impressionist movement.
It spread throughout the world really very quickly on the back of industrial
expansion, transportation, and communication around the world.
So I want to look at some of the essential
parts of impressionism that still carries on to modern times.
Yes, certainly evolving.
But let's have a look at some of the exciting artists that broke out
of the impressionist mold and took things further.
And then we're going to look at some of the impressionists that are basically
folk heroes almost in different countries around the world.
And then touching on the modern contemporary impressionist movement.
These are elements that you can take out and apply to your painting.
And then we'll finish off the series next
time with part five with more of a painting demonstration where I'm
putting some of these things into practice as well.
We need to remember that the original impressionists were focused on capturing
fleeting moments and scenes from everyday life, whereas contemporary impressionists
are more concerned with conveying emotion and mood through their work.
Contemporary impressionism often incorporates more elements of abstraction
and experimentation than traditional academic impressionism.
Contemporary impressionism has been influenced by modern technology as well.
Even the digital age has influenced how we
express color and the possibilities of experimenting with color and composition.
Overall, while contemporary impressionism shares similarities with the original
impressionist movement, it has evolved and changed significantly over time.
We can perhaps summarize this into about five points.
Impressionism is now more emotion than science.
So unlike the scientific approach
of the original impressionists, contemporary impressionists want to look
at color, using it less in a scientific way, but more for its emotional impact.
There's a greater freedom of exploration and experimentation.
Secondly, contemporary impressionists have
built upon the techniques and style of the 19th century impressionists.
In the 20th century, impressionists have become more painterly,
more expressive, and are pushing the boundaries of traditional impressionism.
Plein air painting has also had
a resurgence in popularity, especially in the last 15, 20 years or so.
This method has led to many developments of techniques,
equipment, and all of this leading to more gestural work, more vibrant colors.
There are many contemporary masters
that are influencing so many other artists today.
Artists like David Leffel, Ken Auster, Kevin McPherson.
So we're seeing a bigger fusion of styles.
This fifth element that is taking
traditional impressionism, post impressionism, abstraction even,
and drawing on these influences and creating something that is unique
and individual and modern and something that has really stood the test of time.
So let's have a look at the evolution
of impressionism by touching on the examples of a few key artists
and also the influence of impressionism throughout the modern world.
One key character that we're all familiar with is Vincent van Gogh.
When he reached Paris after his
time in a rather austere Netherlands, he came under the influence
of impressionism, and it had a profound effect on him.
But one of the key developments
of impressionism, as it combined with the character
of Vincent van Gogh, is that his painting became so much more expressive.
Impressionism was adaptable and it could easily evolve,
and he took it in a direction that nobody else had probably foreseen.
But that's what you get when freedom is given to create.
And van Gogh's bright and turbulent paintings took impressionism into an era
or modern era where we have learned so much from it and been inspired by it.
And I think a lot of us painting today can
ascribe some of our influence directly to Vincent van Gogh.
Now, Claude Monet, a more traditional impressionist perhaps.
But if we look at how his art developed, especially in the early 20th century,
where he painted his water lilies, amazing effects that he got through his painting.
And yes, his failing eyesight certainly played a part in it.
But what he was seeing, I believe, is what he was feeling.
And what he made us see was his emotions.
Something that we can all take on board
today as well in our painting and give more freedom to our work.
Now, what about impressionism around the world?
A significant influence
emanated out of France and went to different parts of the world
like the United States, Australia, Canada, Russia,
Eastern European countries, and in my home country, South Africa.
Let's have a look at a few examples of those artists and how impressionism
spread around the world to bring its own form of creative freedom.
Now, if we go and look at Spain,
we get one of my favorite artists and perhaps the most influential artists
when it comes to painting light, and that is Joaquin Sorolla.
His paintings were focused on the representation of light
and atmosphere, warm and cool color that we can see how
the emotion is coming through the impression that he's painting.
There's no doubt that when you look
at a Sorolla painting, you're not seeing science.
You're seeing his emotion,
how he was responding and feeling about that subject in that very moment.
Extremely influential painter,
and you should certainly look up his works if you haven't done so already.
Going over to the United States
of America, artists like John singer Sargent and the California impressionists
were extremely influential in bringing impressionism to America.
Sargent spent some time in Paris
and the impressionists influenced his art considerably.
He's known for his loose brushwork
and use of light and shadow to create depth and mood in his paintings.
He became the most sought after portrait artist of his time.
Now, the California impressionists,
on the other hand, were a group of artists who were inspired by the French
impressionist and brought their techniques to the landscapes of California.
The similarity to that Mediterranean
landscape, I think, was a significant part of this.
Beautiful light all year round, big skies.
Notable California impressionists include William Wendt, Guy Rose, and Edgar Payne.
And once again, you should look up their
work because it is extremely important for our contemporary impressionism today.
Over in Canada, possibly the most influential artist there was Tom Thomson.
Now, if you see his paintings, all you are observing there is
the emotional influence in his work, characterized by bold brushwork,
strong compositions, and incredible use of color.
He admired the impressionists for color and light and brought these
techniques and developed them into his own unique style.
This is why it's so important to give freedom to your own creativity and style
with the help of the impressionist influence.
Australia, we've got Tom Roberts,
considered the foremost Australian impressionist painter.
Others like Arthur Streeton, Charles Condor, all very important artists.
But to have a look at Roberts' painting
such as Shearing the Rams and A Break Away,
and you'll see how that loose brushwork and light and color once again has been
used to capture the Australian landscape and the everyday life at that time.
Another key idea of impressionism.
I want to touch on two other areas that you may not have considered.
One of that is Russian impressionism.
The Russian school of impressionism in the late 19th and 20th centuries,
I believe, is extremely significant and developing for a large part in isolation.
But we've seen over the past 30 years or
so how artists like Isaac Levitan, Constantin Korovin,
and Valentine Serov were such fantastic impressionist painters.
And then my homeland in South Africa, where there was a tremendous influence
of impressionism adapted to the South African lifestyle, country, and people.
I want to highlight a group of artists
who formed an association called the New Group, formed in 1938.
Their intention was to create a new art
that was representative of South African culture and people and landscapes.
Some of the standout artists from that group were Irma Stern,
known for bright colors and expressive brush strokes.
Another artist was Maggie Laubser,
and she was also inspired by the South African landscapes and people.
Her paintings included bold and simplified forms in bright colors.
You're seeing the key elements
of impressionism in all of these artists, I'm sure.
Another one I particularly enjoy was also was known as Gregroire,
and he painted a lot of scenes around the Cape in South Africa and capturing
times and moments that don't exist anymore.
So the recording element of impressionism
is so important recording the contemporary life at that particular time.
So we can see that impressionism has a lasting appeal and influence.
And this is why impressionism is such
a fantastic movement, possibly the most revolutionary art style.
It is still relevant today.
It is connecting us to the beauty of nature, our surroundings,
the people in it, the things that are going on in our own contemporary lives.
We can capture that through these impressionists.
The use of color and brush work,
bright light, all of this lends itself to a personal expression through painting.
And this is why it is so important and so
appealing to people today, because that freedom to create is going to change you.
It's going to have that influence on you
just like it did on people like Van Gogh back in the day.
You take that impressionist influence coupled with your emotion
and expressiveness and your personal experiences, and it gives you the freedom
to create something joyful, new, and relevant.
Well, isn't impressionism a fantastic achievement in the development of art?
The influence still being felt so strongly today.
And in the next video, part five,
in conclusion, I'm going to do some painting and show you some of my
impressionist approaches to this contemporary style of today.
Each artist is going to be different, of course, but we're still looking
for that same thing, that communication with nature, the light,
the atmosphere, the color, and loose brush work.
Isn't it wonderful?
Well, be sure to join me for the next video.
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I think you might enjoy it.
Until next time, happy painting and cheers for now.