07_Close_32 Close
Share prolog

A New Art

Photography and Impressionism
#PhotographieBarberini

That photography is an entirely mechanical science (…) we cannot admit. (…) we believe that it will be on a par with the art of drawing (…)

David Brewster, 1862
 The Normandy cliffs, here at Étretat, were already a tourist attraction in the 19th century.
 The Normandy cliffs, here at Étretat, were already a tourist attraction in the 19th century.

Majestic Expanses
Sky and Sea
First chapter
 Like many photographers, Monet was fascinated by the craggy cliffs near Étretat and painted them under a variety of weather conditions.

Like many photographers, Monet was fascinated by the craggy cliffs near Étretat and painted them under a variety of weather conditions.

... the grandest effort ever seen in photography.

the "Norfolk News" on Le Gray’s ocean scenes, 1857
 Henry Stuart Wortley poetically entitled his seascape  How Sweet the Moonlight Sleeps Upon the Wave , an allusion to a line from Shakespeare’s play  The Merchant of Venice .

Henry Stuart Wortley poetically entitled his seascape How Sweet the Moonlight Sleeps Upon the Wave, an allusion to a line from Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice.

 For his photograph  The Wave , Albert Londe used a camera with twelve lenses that he had constructed himself. The individual images were then exposed on a single glass plate.

For his photograph The Wave, Albert Londe used a camera with twelve lenses that he had constructed himself. The individual images were then exposed on a single glass plate.

Albert Londe: The Wave, 1893
00:00
Cloud Pictures
 The southern German photographer Carl Teufel marketed his cloud pictures specifically as models for artists.

The southern German photographer Carl Teufel marketed his cloud pictures specifically as models for artists.

 Cumulus or cirrocumulus? Alfred Sisley’s paintings bespeak his precise observation of characteristic cloud formations.

Cumulus or cirrocumulus? Alfred Sisley’s paintings bespeak his precise observation of characteristic cloud formations.

 Results of "Hausmannization": The great Parisian boulevards had only been created in the course of a massive urban redevelopment in the 19th century.
 Results of "Hausmannization": The great Parisian boulevards had only been created in the course of a massive urban redevelopment in the 19th century.

Center of Modernity
Paris
Second chapter
 This view of the Rue Halévy was painted by Gustave Caillebotte in 1878. The Impressionist shows the street in a dramatically foreshortened view from a sixth-story window. Photographers often chose very similar perspectives.

This view of the Rue Halévy was painted by Gustave Caillebotte in 1878. The Impressionist shows the street in a dramatically foreshortened view from a sixth-story window. Photographers often chose very similar perspectives.

(…) everywhere masonry fell with thunderous noise, clouds of dust darkened the heavens, workers shouted (…), cars laden with rubble plowed valleys of mud; (…) it rained rubble and bricks.

Edmond About, 1867
 For this image, the photographer chose a location very close to the Louvre. The low angle of the camera emphasizes the broad expanse of the street.

For this image, the photographer chose a location very close to the Louvre. The low angle of the camera emphasizes the broad expanse of the street.

Charles Marville, Paris, Rue de Rivoli, ca. 1877 
00:00

If we ascend the Arc de l’Étoile and look down on the Champs-Élysées, we see a number of (…) variously coloured specks stirring about on the roadway or pavements. That is all our eyes distinguish.

Hippolyte Taine, 1870
 The cast-iron bridge structure had been newly erected in 1872. Caillebotte emphasizes it here with a close-up detail.
Bridges: Modern Building
 The photographer Auguste Collard specialized in industrial architecture. This view of the Pont de Grenelle in Paris evinces a strikingly dynamic composition.

The photographer Auguste Collard specialized in industrial architecture. This view of the Pont de Grenelle in Paris evinces a strikingly dynamic composition.

Augustin Hippolyte Collard, Pont de Grenelle, Paris, ca. 1875/76 
00:00
 A picture like a walk in the woods: the finely differentiated play of light leads the eye into the depths in Georg Maria Eckert's  Middle Ground Study - Rocky Path in the Forest .
 A picture like a walk in the woods: the finely differentiated play of light leads the eye into the depths in Georg Maria Eckert's  Middle Ground Study - Rocky Path in the Forest .

Shadow and Light
Forest Scenes
Third chapter
 Like the Barbizon painters of the generation before him, Pierre-Auguste Renoir explored the world of the forest. His dissolution of form took Impressionism to a new level.

Like the Barbizon painters of the generation before him, Pierre-Auguste Renoir explored the world of the forest. His dissolution of form took Impressionism to a new level.

not trees where dryads dwell, but rather the (…) oaks of Fontainebleau, honest roadside elms, the simple birches (…) , and all this without any Greek temple (…)

Théodore Rousseau (1812–1867)
 Due to the long exposure time, the babbling brook in Henri Le Secq’s photograph appears blurred, as if frozen. The rest of the image is sharply focused.

Due to the long exposure time, the babbling brook in Henri Le Secq’s photograph appears blurred, as if frozen. The rest of the image is sharply focused.

Henri Le Secq, Forest Brook, ca. 1852/53 
00:00

The photographer, even more than the painter, must search for and choose the correct vantage point, because unlike the painter he does not have the ability to add to or subtract from his picture. Regardless of the choice of location, the photographer must still choose the moment when the landscape is best lit and the day when nature is at its most beautiful.

from the magazine "La Lumière", 1860
 The diffuse light in Constantin Puyo's photograph  Two Women in a Field  mimics effects of Impressionist painting.
 The diffuse light in Constantin Puyo's photograph  Two Women in a Field  mimics effects of Impressionist painting.

Everyday Motifs
Countryside and River
Fourth chapter
 In 1883, Claude Monet moved to Giverny, a village with fewer than 300 inhabitants about eighty kilometers northwest of Paris. There he found rural motifs in the environs of his own home.

In 1883, Claude Monet moved to Giverny, a village with fewer than 300 inhabitants about eighty kilometers northwest of Paris. There he found rural motifs in the environs of his own home.

 Stéphanie Breton, who lived in Rouen, was one of the few women photographers in the early days of the medium. Only a few of her works survive.

Stéphanie Breton, who lived in Rouen, was one of the few women photographers in the early days of the medium. Only a few of her works survive.

Stéphanie Breton: The Castle of Franqueville near Rouen, 1861
00:00
 Peter Henry Emerson:  Gathering Water Lilies , 1886, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Graphische Sammlung, acquired 1989 Mayer Collection, Stuttgart, © bpk / Staatsgalerie Stuttgart / Peter Henry Emerson
Water Lilies
 Charles Aubry’s composition resembles a classical still life painting.
Still Lifes
Charles Aubry, Stillleben, ca. 1864
00:00
 Charles Aubry’s composition resembles a classical still life painting.

Charles Aubry’s composition resembles a classical still life painting.

 Charles Aubry sensitively captured the play of light on the delicate petals of his  Garden Asters .

Charles Aubry sensitively captured the play of light on the delicate petals of his Garden Asters.

 Precise observation of nature and free brushwork: the Impressionists also chose the traditional genre of still life.

Precise observation of nature and free brushwork: the Impressionists also chose the traditional genre of still life.

 Hungry for melon? The German photographer August Kotzsch found a market for his cool, objective photographs as far away as New York.

Hungry for melon? The German photographer August Kotzsch found a market for his cool, objective photographs as far away as New York.

 Monet shows a cut melon: his carefully arranged still life with fruit is remarkable for its voluptuous colors and forms.

Monet shows a cut melon: his carefully arranged still life with fruit is remarkable for its voluptuous colors and forms.

 Lika a painting? The German photographer Hugo Henneberg achieved amazing effects through elaborate printing processes.
 Lika a painting? The German photographer Hugo Henneberg achieved amazing effects through elaborate printing processes.

Painterly Photographs
Pictorialism
Fifth chapter
 In Renoir’s  Shaded Path , colored daubs of paint evoke the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves.

In Renoir’s Shaded Path, colored daubs of paint evoke the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Photography imitates everything and expresses nothing. It is blind in the world of spirit.

Honoré Daumier (1808-1879)
 Monet was fascinated by the changing character of Argenteuil, a burgeoning industrial city. The smokestacks on the horizon bear witness to the rise of industrialization; in fine art photography, however, such motifs rarely occur.

Monet was fascinated by the changing character of Argenteuil, a burgeoning industrial city. The smokestacks on the horizon bear witness to the rise of industrialization; in fine art photography, however, such motifs rarely occur.

 In this atmospheric work, the prominent pictorialist photographer Robert Demachy intentionally blurred the image.

In this atmospheric work, the prominent pictorialist photographer Robert Demachy intentionally blurred the image.

Robert Demachy: Banks of the Seine, ca. 1906
00:00

A single, thoroughly considered picture, (…) as the final result of a systematic series of experiments (…) , is worth more than a dozen half-finished, technically barely adequate works.

Heinrich Kühn, 1923
Winter
  Colored Shadows  was the name the amateur photographer Trinks gave to this winter scene. The elongated shadows of trees in the low winter sun evoke an almost abstract impression.

Colored Shadows was the name the amateur photographer Trinks gave to this winter scene. The elongated shadows of trees in the low winter sun evoke an almost abstract impression.

Gustav Eduard Bernhard Trinks, Colored Shadows, 1897
00:00
 Photography or painting? Personnaz takes up the motif of Monet's famous series of pictures of grainstacks.

Photography or painting? Personnaz takes up the motif of Monet's famous series of pictures of grainstacks.

 In both winter and summer, Monet painted the striking rural motif of grainstacks under varying conditions of light.

In both winter and summer, Monet painted the striking rural motif of grainstacks under varying conditions of light.

 Heinrich Kühn often took his family as a model, as here. In this shot, the blur enhances the painterly effect.
 Heinrich Kühn often took his family as a model, as here. In this shot, the blur enhances the painterly effect.

The World in Color
Autochrome
Sixth chapter

Frequent visits to painting galleries, but above all to the first Secession exhibition (…) were especially inspiring to me. The new expression of fine art had a decisive effect on my works.

Heinrich Kühn, 1889
 In 1907, Antonin Personnaz photographed the Impressionist painter Armand Guillaumin at work. The grainy quality of the autochrome enhances the impressionistic effect of this summery river landscape, while the figural composition alludes to a famous painting by the Pointillist Georges Seurat.

In 1907, Antonin Personnaz photographed the Impressionist painter Armand Guillaumin at work. The grainy quality of the autochrome enhances the impressionistic effect of this summery river landscape, while the figural composition alludes to a famous painting by the Pointillist Georges Seurat.

Antonin Personnaz, Armand Guillaumin Painting “Bathers near Crozant,” ca. 1907
00:00
 Monet explored the famous cliffs on the Normandy coast from a wide range of perspectives.

Monet explored the famous cliffs on the Normandy coast from a wide range of perspectives.

 The photographer Louise Deglane used soft, subtle colors in her image of the beach at Étretat, where Monet had painted decades before.

The photographer Louise Deglane used soft, subtle colors in her image of the beach at Étretat, where Monet had painted decades before.

 Claude Monet painted his luxuriantly blooming gardens on countless occasions; here we see the garden at Vétheuil.

Claude Monet painted his luxuriantly blooming gardens on countless occasions; here we see the garden at Vétheuil.

 Our gaze moves through a vine-covered trellis into a sunlit garden; the eye of the photographer Louise Deglane is guided by Impressionism. 

Our gaze moves through a vine-covered trellis into a sunlit garden; the eye of the photographer Louise Deglane is guided by Impressionism.