At the Frist
Radical Impressionism
In the middle of the 19th century the Académie des Beaux-Arts dominated French art. The Académie was the preserver of traditional French painting standards of content and style. The Académie had an annual, juried art show, the Salon de Paris, and artists whose work was displayed in the show won prizes, garnered commissions, and enhanced their prestige. The works were not for sale. At the time, in Paris, this was the only way an artist might have the pubic see their art. The Académie preferred carefully finished images that looked realistic when examined closely. The judges were interested in historical, mythological, and religious subjects, along with portraits. The preferred style employed brush strokes that were carefully blended to hide the artist’s hand in the work. Frustrated with the rigidity of this, a group of artists emerged under the name “the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, Etc.” who we now recognize as Impressionists, organized a total of eight exhibitions between 1874 and 1886 to display their own art which featured everyday scenes of life in and around Paris – carriages and pedestrians, gardens, and pastoral scenes, views of coastal ports and waterways, and still lifes in domestic spaces. They even allowed the paintings to be purchased. How uncouth! This was truly scandalous at the time and critics didn’t know what to make of it. Some were offended, others thought it was just hideous, and still others thought these artists must be pulling a prank on society. The Frist Art Museum’s newest exhibition, The Impressionist Revolution: Monet to Matisse from the Dallas Museum of Art, explores the radical nature of this impressionist movement in terms of subject, color, and style. The exhibit is broken into five sections: “Rebels with a Cause,” “Field Notes,” “Weird Science,” “Side Effects,” and “Ever After.”
One of the first paintings in “Rebels with a Cause” is Still Life, Tea Service by Claude Monet. This painting, completed two years before the first Impressionist exhibition, illustrates his ability to render textures and how easily he could have stuck with tradition if he wanted to do so. Called “the father of Impressionism,” he was, of course, very technically skilled, but he wanted to explore something new. Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise, is what eventually led to the name “Impressionists” after Louis Leroy, critic for the satirical newspaper Le Chariviari, wrote: “Impression, certainly that’s what it produces. It was simply telling me that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it… and what freedom, what ease of manufacture! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.”
The next section, “Field Notes,” refers to the fact that nearly all the Impressionists worked outdoors to depict light and movement, whether in the city or the countryside. In this section is the only painting in the exhibit by a woman, The Port of Nice by Berthe Morisot. At this time in France, it was believed that women could copy art or do portraits, but could not create. The caption of the painting tells us Morisot “painted it from a boat she rented to escape the jeers of onlookers who had never seen a woman artist at work.” She, and the other Impressionists were doing revolutionary things with light and shadow: they wanted to capture light as faithfully as they could and did not use black and gray for shadows, nor did they apply a shiny varnish, which was traditionally the final step in oil painting. The Path in the Garden by Gustave Caillebotte illustrates this so well, that it almost looks as if a light is shining on the painting. In fact, the curator explained that it is very difficult to find the right place for this painting in an exhibit because if it’s too close to other paintings, it makes them look dim in comparison. Look at the painting up close and you can see that Caillebotte uses not just color, but thickness of paint to show light.
In “Weird Science,” the focus is on Georges Seurat’s technique, which he called Chromo-Luminarism, now known as Pointillism or Neoimpressionism. This technique involves putting individual points of color side by side to ultimately form a cohesive image. This technique was debuted at the last Impressionist show in 1886 with his (now famous) painting, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and of course, as with any new style, was not well received by many. Also in this section is Apple Harvest by Camille Pissarro, which is connected to a fantastic interactive station about the principles of color theory. This station really helped me engage with the art in a way I wouldn’t have on my own.
If we view artist movements and pieces as part of conversation between artists, living and dead, we see that in response to pointillism, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Pierre Bonnard led the way to a new style that is now referred to as Post-Impressionist. Many of these artists called themselves “Nabis.” The Nabis took their name from a Hebrew term which comes from the word nebiim or “prophets.” The term was coined in 1888 by the linguist Auguste Cazalis, who drew a parallel between the way these painters aimed to revitalize painting (as ‘prophets of modern art’) and the way the ancient prophets had rejuvenated Israel. They experimented with antinaturalistic colors, exaggerated forms, and symbolic subjects. Gauguin was instrumental in this shift. He left Paris at one point and went to Tahiti (among other places) which was then a French colony, to find authenticity, convinced that everything in Europe was artificial. I Raro te Oviri (Under the Pandanus) by Gauguin was painted during his time in Tahiti. It depicts two women in traditional dress under a pandanus tree. He saw the simplicity of this “primitive” life as purer that western civilization. Although we can see that there is certainly something problematic about his idealization of this life, it doesn’t detract from the beauty of the painting. It is fascinating how important this tree was and still is; “Pandanus tectorius is one of the most useful trees in Micronesia. The leaves, which are the most useful part of the plant, are woven or plaited into mats, thatch, sails, baskets, hats, local fans, marmars, anticrafts, and many other items. Tip of prop roots are eaten and are often used as native medicine in Pohnpei and maybe in other Micronesian islands as well. The fruit is a major source of food in Micronesia especially on the atolls. They can be eaten raw or cooked. Either way, it is very healthy. Besides serving as a food, its fibrous helps clean the teeth, acting as a natural dental floss.” (https://www.comfsm.fm/~dleeling/angio/pandanus.html)
The last section “Ever After” explores how the Impressionists have influenced much of contemporary art. Dr. Nicole Myers, the Dallas Museum of Art’s Chief Curatorial and Research Officer and the Barbara Thomas Lemmon Senior Curator of European Art writes, “Almost every stylistic breakthrough from this period – Cubism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Futurism, Abstraction – had its roots in the Impressionists’ subversion of traditional Academic values, from the subject depicted to the finish of the brightly colored surface.” Fishing Boats at L’Estaque by André Derain demonstrates Fauvism. In this practice, light and shadow are shown as contrasting colors rather than contrasting tones. In this painting, the water is not always blue, and yet we can still recognize the painting as boats in water. The color does not have to describe what the image is. It is the relationship of that color to the colors around it, in addition to its form that tells our brain how to read the image. This is the origins of abstraction which will then lead to Cubism. Again we see that art is an ongoing conversation.
Most Americans are very familiar with famous Impressionist paintings, even if they’ve never seen them in real life. Who doesn’t know about Monet’s water lilies? Impressionism is a crowd-pleaser, and I can’t deny that this is one of my favorite exhibits that I’ve seen at the Frist. But besides loving the art, I truly loved all the history and information included in this exhibit. I’m sure it will speak to you as much as it speaks to me. This exhibit also includes many metal panels that have a tactile representation of some of the paintings. Visitors are encouraged to touch them to experience art in a different way. There is also an accompanying hardcover catalogue available for purchase in the Frist’s Gift Shop. This exhibit will be on display until May 31, 2026. Don’t miss it!
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Bethany is a wife, mother, and dog mom. In her spare time she likes to read, write fiction, and go out with her family. She feels lucky to live in Music City where she can go to the symphony or theatre all the time.
