Comparison of Painting Styles between Matisse and Degas

Henri matisse is a famous French painter, the founder and main representative of Fauvism, as well as a sculptor and printmaker. He is famous for using bright and bold colors. Matisse was born in the south of France. Because he was ill in hospital, his mother gave him a box of paints, a set of brushes and a painting self-study manual as a gift to pass the boring time, which became the first step for Matisse to start his artistic career. Since then, Matisse's passion for painting has been out of control, and an accidental opportunity has become a turning point in his life.

The teacher who had the greatest influence on Matisse was Augustave Moreau, who shaped Matisse. Moreau once said to Matisse: "In art, the simpler your method, the more obvious your feeling." It is this sentence that guided Matisse's painting style, which enabled him to shape everything he conceived with simple lines and bright colors, and had a far-reaching impact on his artistic creation throughout his life.

Finally, under the guidance of the teacher, Matisse led Fauvism to the artistic stage. In that salon, he exhibited the "open window" and the portrait of Madame Matisse, a theme that Matisse always preferred for the rest of his life. The interior walls and casements here are composed of wide vertical bars, bright green, blue, purple and orange; The outdoor world is a beautifully decorated pattern composed of bright small strokes. The brush strokes spread from green dots to wider red and white, and the blue of Greater sea and the sky.

Matisse is a person who is good at absorbing the advantages of various art categories. Dining table is one of his 1908 paintings. Matisse also specially set up sculptures to study the human body and created more than 70 sculptures. When Matisse was in his 70 s, he was in poor health, but he was always fascinated by art. He couldn't draw any more, so he picked up scissors in his hospital bed and began to cut paper. Matisse's obsession with art is unimaginable.

The artistic style of impressionist painting: the cultural connotation of impressionist painting, choose its essence, and describe it as follows:

First of all, painting has changed from objective natural representation to subjective spiritual expression, which embodies the aesthetic concept of impressionist painting independence. Impressionism opposes western classical traditional painting in artistic spirit and emphasizes the creation of artistic forms in the new era; They don't pay much attention to the thematic expression of reality, and suggest that life and objective images should be naturally and casually expressed; They are divorced from the social and educational functions that traditional art pays attention to, from the realistic plot and drama structure of artistic expression, and exclude the narrative literary content. They pay attention to the painter's self-feeling and conscious expression of the real situation, are good at visually and objectively reproducing and describing the living state and existing form of the real situation, and change painting from objective natural reproduction to subjective spiritual expression, so as to cater to the aesthetic needs of emerging citizens and strive to embody the independent aesthetic concept of Impressionist painting. Impressionism is not against taking nature as a teacher, but only emphasizes "don't lose the first impression you feel". Impressionists believe that "memory" and "imagination" can be "liberated from the bondage of nature". Cezanne also reminded painters to "avoid literary tendency" and exclude narrative literary content from painting. The simplicity and truthfulness of pissarro's Peasant Girl and the agility and vividness of Shepherdess embody "taking nature as a teacher" and describe "my first impression". The devotion and emotion of degas horse racing, the leisure and chic of riding and walking, and the joy and ecstasy of ballet dancers on the stage are superimposed with "memory" and "imagination" in an attempt to "liberate from the bondage of nature". Cezanne's Curved Tree is open-minded and wild, Bridge over the Mana River is quiet and pure, and Giant Pine on the outskirts of Aix is concise and open-minded, following the "color logic". Impressionist painters walked out of the traditional artistic tendency with "sociological function" and entered the social life at that time with "independence of painting". Manet's outstanding genre paintings, such as "Coffee Concert Singer in Cafe" and "Foley Baker Tavern", are representative works in this respect. Lautreck, despite his aristocratic background, expressed reality with irony. The nightlife of the upper class in Paris described by him has no elegant and noble life interest, but a degenerate, filthy and deceptive world. The revelry in the hustle and bustle in "His Ball at Moulin Rouge" and the meditation and helplessness of the characters in "Sayoko the Clown" are really painful groans. Here, we can also understand that Impressionism can't really reverse the "sociological function" in traditional art. Impressionism lives in a society full of contradictions, and even if it repeatedly emphasizes the aesthetic concept of painting independence, it can't really step into "independence" that is divorced from "sociological function".

Second, it pays attention to the integration of light, color, shape, meaning and beauty in painting, which embodies the main characteristics of the combination of impressionist art and optics. Impressionist painting has made a breakthrough in the expression of light and color, seeking form in light and color, eulogizing meaning and beauty in light and color, understanding the dialectical relationship between light, color, shape, meaning and beauty in painting language, introducing flickering sunshine and subtle shadows into the picture, and making painting fresh, bright and full of vitality. In impressionist painting, light and color are the basic painting language, artistic elements, fast-flowing musical melody and slow-flowing cultural symbols. Light and color are the artistic starting points of form, meaning and beauty, and form, meaning and beauty are all shaped, expressed and displayed in light and color. The most basic painting technique of impressionist painters is to explore an effective method to break through the single and seemingly unchangeable "inherent" color of objects; They try to capture the instantaneous color of objects at a specific time, which is influenced by certain environmental conditions, spatial distance and other objects around them. They began with painting water and vividly described the color reflected by water waves. They further extend to the expression of light and color from architecture to the sky. Impressionists' exploration of light and color benefited from scientists' new discovery of the nature of light at the beginning of the19th century, which gave birth to the cultural leap produced by the combination of art and science. Monet repeatedly described Rouen Cathedral and haystacks in different periods, precisely to capture the instantaneous light and color. In this rare exhibition, "Rouen Cathedral, the door from the front, brown harmony" and "Rouen Cathedral, the effect of sunshine at night" are two of more than 30 oil paintings painted by Monet for the church. While painting these paintings, he wrote in a letter to his wife that he would make some new discoveries that he had never seen before every day, so he would soon make up for them, but at the same time he would lose something.

Thirdly, the juxtaposition, overlapping and complementary colors of primary colors form a new impressionist painting language. In order to express the dynamic changes of objects and colorful and bizarre light colors, impressionist painters adopted the method of juxtaposition of small strokes and tones. Some colors are no longer allocated on the palette, but the three primary colors of red, yellow and blue overlap side by side from time to time, and the red, green, yellow, purple, blue and orange complement each other, which makes the colors produce new harmony in the strong visual impact. Impressionism's new "light and color" technique has formed a new painting language, which is refreshing.

Fourthly, "moving the easel outdoors" has become an important painting method of Impressionism. It is not a simple displacement of painting place, but a change of painting method, which changes the traditional western painting method to sketch the scene in the sun and capture and describe the subtle effect of the color of objects in the sun. Renoir likes to sketch models in the outdoor forest, so as to carefully study the green reflection and bright spot effect on the model's body and face. Renoir revealed the mystery of color blooming and flowing from the fresh natural scenery, and realized the beauty and harmony of color, the joy and change of sunshine, the rhythm and frankness of nature, and the clarity and warmth of life. Therefore, with the shadow under the umbrella, the crystal visual color and the sincere charm of non-visual color in Li Si's eyes, the summer capital is bright and beautiful in spring. Painting in the sun laid the foundation for the rise and development of impressionist painting in the way of painting.

The fifth is to change the traditional western painting, learn from various painting schools, and leave the cultural track of impressionism knocking on the door of modern art in the 20th century. Impressionist artistic thoughts came into being with impressionist painting, which flourished in the surge of impressionist artistic thoughts. The rise of impressionism lies in the transformation of western traditional painting and the reference of various painting schools in the first half of the 9th century, including classicism, romanticism and realism. The rebellion of impressionist painting is manifested in many aspects. Impressionism soon formed its own artistic style, painting characteristics and cultural style. In the second half of the19th century, it was unique, but it also showed the limitations of its own artistic choice and cultural orientation, which led to confusion and division. In this process, Impressionism, New Impressionism and Post-Impressionism came into being one after another. After the decline of Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Cubism and all kinds of rational abstract art in the 20th century have gained impetus from it. Impressionism, neo-impressionism and post-impressionism opened the door to modern art in the 20th century.

Cultural Portrait of Impressionist Painters

In the evolution of impressionism, new impressionism and post-impressionism, some influential painters appeared, who consciously or unconsciously walked under the banner of impressionism; Although some people do not have the "team consciousness" of Impressionism, their works reveal the artistic style of Impressionism. Although some people participated in the artistic activities of early impressionism, their overall artistic tendency was closer to post-impressionism, or they became the representatives of post-impressionism. A total of 5 1 works were selected for this "French Impressionist Painting Exhibition", including more than 4 works by Manet, Monet, pissarro, Sisley, Renoir, Degas and Cezanne. Manet is the founder of impressionism. He created a painting method based on daily life and natural scenery, emphasizing that the color block operation of painting is higher than the description function. Monet is the initiator, leader and unswerving practitioner of the impressionist painting movement, and is the eulogist of "light and color". Pissarro is the leader of pointillism. Sisley's painting style is relatively stable among impressionists. Renoir is a pioneer of French Impressionism, and his early works are a true portrayal of typical Impressionism, full of flashing colors and light. Degas is regarded as a master painter who expresses dynamic figures. Cezanne is one of the outstanding post-impressionist painters and the father of modern painting art. His works and thoughts have had a great influence on the aesthetic concepts and artistic movements (especially cubism) of many artists in the 20th century.

Impressionist painters have their own style and personality, and at the same time they are bright and have their own characteristics.

The first is the criticism of artistic thought. Impressionist painting is essentially critical and "rebellious", which is rejected by orthodox salons, and strengthened its "rebellious" because of the rejection, and embarked on the road of exploration more tenaciously. From 65438 to 0874, a group of young painters held their first exhibition under the guise of Nadal, a famous photographer in Paris, which was rejected by the orthodox salon. Up to 1886, Impressionists have held eight exhibitions. In the meantime, impressionist painting developed in twists and turns, and impressionist painters gathered and dispersed. However, on the whole, the criticism of impressionist artistic thought is certain.

The second is the originality of the artistic system. Although the representatives of Impressionism still maintained the classical form and general aesthetic concept of painting, they shook the traditional way of painting, loosened the artistic chain with strong inheritance, and created a new artistic system in aesthetic concept, light and color treatment, visual construction and aesthetic taste.

The third is the exploration of artistic spirit. Impressionist painters are always in the process of exploration, starting from exploration, developing in exploration, coming together in exploration, opening up new artistic tracks in exploration, colliding and breaking in exploration, and coming from Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in exploration to modern art in the 20th century.

Fourth, art treasures gradually dominate. Impressionist painting has a process of being accepted by the world. When the works of impressionist painters were rejected by orthodox salons, their works were left out in the cold, and even the bought works were required to be returned. 1in July, 933, when Renoir's Little Artist was sold in Paris for170,000 francs, Mr. Chang Shuhong wrote down Renoir's victory in Paris with emotion: "Renoir and Monet can be said to be the most unique two pure artists in the impressionist vanguard who tried to challenge the times ... Some people said that Renoir won! However, please don't forget his struggle in hatred and ridicule. He kept pursuing, and the return of this victory was 1933, which was 14 years after his death. " Here, the gradual process of artistic treasures has gone through 14 spring and autumn!

The fifth is the reference of artistic techniques. Impressionist painters used the techniques and aesthetic concepts of barbizon painters and British painters for reference. Sisley once said to critic Dolf Davini, "Who is my favorite painter? If only contemporaries are mentioned, they are Delacroix, Connor, Miller, Rousseau and Courbet, all of whom are our teachers. They love nature and feel it strongly. " The influence of barbizon landscape painters on impressionist painters is obvious. Pissarro admitted: "Our road began with Turner, a great British painter ..." Impressionist painters also absorbed nutrition from China, Japanese and other oriental arts. Van Gogh pointed out: "I dare to predict that other painters will like a color in strong sunlight and the crystal clear colors in Japanese painting." "Japanese art ... has taken root among French impressionist artists." Monet became interested in Japanese ukiyo-e in 1870, and began to collect ukiyo-e prints in 187 1.