This book looks at the type of painting which was central to Impressionism – the plein air landscape – and traces its development from inception by Desportes in the latter years of the seventeenth century, through the Barbizon School, to its peak in the late nineteenth century.
Cézanne
We are all familiar with Monet’s famous series paintings of Grainstacks at Giverny and Rouen Cathedral. This series of articles investigates series painting, and the Impressionists who painted series.
The importance of relative size, and height in the picture plane, in imparting depth and space in painting.
When we sketch, draw, or paint we accomplish the small miracle of depicting a three-dimensional motif on our two-dimensional ground. This first article considers the cues for visual depth.
Lightness is key to the depiction of materials, textures, edges, and form. Illusions can confound the viewer, and it is vital to map the lightness of your motif to that of your painting.
A simply golden landscape at sunset, by the central figure in Impressionism and father of Post-Impressionism.
Examines the use of metonymy, synecdoche, and symbols in representative painting prior to ‘Modern Art’ in the twentieth century.
Cézanne’s final style, featuring his characteristic ‘constructive stroke’ with patches of colour built from groups of parallel brushstrokes, […]
Paul Cézanne has been repeatedly described as the ‘father’ of several of the major movements in painting which […]
Truth in (landscape) painting 1
There are many types of ‘truth’ in painting, but the truth that I am concerned with here is fidelity to motif: how faithfully does a painter attempt to depict the objects that they are painting?
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