Art Impressions Gallery

Art History Online- Final Exam

Art Impressions Gallery is located in downtown Redlands, California. The gallery is curated and run by Rachel Buiter. It is our goal to showcase impressionist art from all artists and time periods.

"Dreams and Impressions" Exhibition

 The "Dreams and Impressions" exhibition shows many variations on Impressionistic art. The thread that connects all of the following pieces of art is their connection with the dream world. Each piece shows the mood, setting, outcome, or hope of a dream. Impressionism fits well with this theme of dreams. We usually remember only impressions of the scenes in our dreams, and the Impressionist style of painting is a depiction of the general impression of a scene. Each artwork was picked based on its Impressionist style and its relevance to the dream world.

Contributing artists:

Claude Monet

Alfred Sisley

Berthe Morisot

Karen Tarlton

Edgar Degas

Iris Scott

Camille Pissarro

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Robert Hagan

Leonid Afremov

"Twilight, Venice" by Claude Monet

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 28.7”x 36.2”

Date: 1908

 Claude Monet was one of the founders of French Impressionistic painting. In fact, the term Impressionism itself comes from one of his paintings, Impression, Sunrise. Monet spent most of his life in France, but also lived in England and the Netherlands. He lived at the turn of the century from 1840 to 1926.

 ”When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever” Monet explained to a fellow artist, “merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives you your own naïve impression of the scene before you”.

 Twilight, Venice is also known as Dusk, Church of San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight, or Crepuscule a Venice. Monet created this painting while staying at the Hotel Britannia in Venice in the autumn of 1908 with his wife Alice.

 I chose this painting because it has the dreamy impressionistic feeling that I was looking for in all of my choices. This painting could be a scene from a dream, with its vibrantly bright colors with hazy atmosphere.

"Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne" by Alfred Sisley

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 19.5”x 25.75”

Date: 1872

 Alfred Sisley, although of English parents, was born and spent most of his life in France. After an unsuccessful attempt at the business world, Sisley’s parents supported his artistic career. He studied art in Paris, painting with such artists as Renoir and Monet. Sisley was deeply influenced by the emerging Impressionist movement, eventually associating himself completely with Impressionism. After the wars destroyed his family’s fortune, Sisley became poor and remained so until nearly the end of his life, when he finally received some of the acknowledgment that his work deserved.

 Art historian Robert Rosenblum has judged Sisley’s work as “strongly invoking atmosphere and his skies are always very impressive,” compared to many of the Impressionist painters.

 The then state-of-the-art suspension bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne on the banks of the Seine River appears in two of Sisley’s paintings. The short flat brushstrokes are typical of Sisley’s paintings. He gives special attention to the sky, as he does in many of his works, also reflecting the blue of the sky in the glistening water of the river.

 Like most Impressionist paintings, the Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne has a hazy dreamlike feeling to it. The view could be from the position of a person dozing on the riverbank, sleepily taking in the scene of passing water and clouds.

"At the Ball" by Berthe Morisot

Media: oil on canvas

Dimensions: 20.5”x25.6”

Date: 1875

 Berthe Morisot was a female leader of the Impressionist movement in the late 19^th century. She displayed her work in the Salon de Paris and the exhibitions of the Impressionists. Her painting focused on domestic life and portraits. Morisot later married Eugène Manet and became the sister-in-law of the famous artist Édouard Manet.

 Morrisot’s teacher Camille Carot wrote of her and her sister, “With characters like your daughters, my teaching will make them painters, not minor amateur talents. Do you really understand what that means? In the world of the grande bourgeoisie in which you move, it would be a revolution. I would even say a catastrophe."

 Because Morrisot was a woman, she was restricted in the subjects she was allowed to paint. Ballroom scenes were one of the genres open to Morrisot. This painting is now held at Musée Marmottan in Paris, France.

 The subject of Morisot’s painting is not paying attention to her surroundings. She is slowly moving her fan, but mostly just daydreaming. Her dreams show in her eyes. This painting has both the dreamlike and impressionistic thread that ties all the art pieces in this exhibition together.

"Sailing Between the Pines" by Karen Tarlton

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 20”x 24”

Date: 2000

 Karen Tarlton is originally from California. She has studied art at the University of California at Davis and the Corcoran School of Fine Art in Virginia. Tarlton travels extensively and still continues to study art. For the last ten years she has been a full time professional artist.

 “This original oil conveys a sense of light and air and the joys of a fantastic mountain lake, with expressive textured brush and palette knife work. I have many memories of Lake Tahoe, my childhood home, and its beauty never ceases to amaze me. . . A vibrant and sophisticated piece to add to any fine art collection, or the perfect stand out work of art to start one!”

 Karen Tarlton painted Sailing Between the Pines with oil paints in the palette knife method, like many of her other paintings. This method of applying several layers of paint causes a three dimensional appearance. This painting is available for sale as a print from Karen’s Fine Art online.

 Sailing Between the Pines is the artist’s fond recollection of her childhood memories. It is hazy, without distinct boundaries or features. It is the impression of a memory, of a dream from the past.

"The Star" by Edgar Degas

Media: Pastel on Paper

Dimensions: 23 5/8”x 17 3/8”

Date: 1878

 Edgar Degas was another key member of the French impressionism art movement. Like Monet, he also worked at the latter half of the 19^th century and the first part of the 20^th. Human figures are the main subject of Degas’ work. He is best known for his many studies on ballerinas, which comprise more than half of his artwork.

 Degas said, "People call me painter of dancing girls. It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and in painting pretty clothes."

 Edgar Degas’ model for The Star was Rosita Mauri, a talented young ballerina who debuted in 1878 at the Paris Opéra. Rosita was identified because Degas had described her features and gestures so accurately.

 There is a dreamlike quality to ballet, with the ballerinas floating and soaring across the floor in their light and airy clothing. Degas captures this quality well in his impressionistic piece, not only in the ballerina, but also in the blurring of the stage and bystanders.