How trees came to invade Impressionist landscape paintings, in direct contravention to established principles.
Monet
More leaf-peeping, from Tina Blau and Monet’s poplars on the River Epte, to Paul Nash’s eerie Wittenham Clumps under the moon’s last phase.
Come leaf-peeping with painters from Samuel Palmer in the Weald of Kent, to Julian Alden Weir’s autumn rain.
Horizon, planes of foreground, middle distance and background, repoussoir and framing, rhythm, reflections and panoramas – examples of compositional techniques.
Probably the original still life theme, and always a popular one, examples from Fantin-Latour, Bazille, van Gogh, and poignant paintings by Lovis Corinth and Charles Demuth.
From West and Frith’s early paintings of the beach at Ramsgate, through their increasing popularity in the 19th century, to Boudin, Monet and Renoir.
Submitted for the final round of the Prix de Rome in 1875, the jury rejected it on a trumped-up technicality. The effect was to change the history of painting.
Blurring for dramatic effect, and to mimic photographic depth of field effects, were used in the 19th century, but motion blur came later.
In myth and legend, apples have determined the future of civilisation twice. They’re also some of the most enduring objects to be seen in still life paintings.
Before the 1880s, Whistler’s landscapes were very painterly, painted alla prima, showed views later featured by Impressionists, and even used wooden panels of the same size.
