Impressionism

Lesson 1: Origins of Impressionism

Corot and Courbet

The work of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, although based in the Classical tradition, is seen as a precursor to the landscape paintings done by some of the Impressionists such as Monet and Pissarro. His wispy fields, sketchy trees and atmospheric forest groves gave a hint of the way ahead. However, Corot never felt completely at home with the Barbizon Group. He was more of a romantic idealist who was not as bent on depicting scenes of peasant life like many of the Baribzon painters.

Corot worked outside and was interested in trying to transfer the effects of light into his paintings, just as the Impressionists later did. You can really see how Corot tried to depict light in the landscape painting shown below, currently hanging in the Musee D'Orsay in Paris.



Corot's contemporary, Gustave Courbet, also painted landscapes and allegorical works such as the work below, which shocked the Parisian public at the time, because an undraped model was seen out of her usual context. Courbet, who was self-taught and who also adopted the look and dress of a rustic from the provinces, was as political and revolutionary as Corot was withdrawn from things political.


Interior of My Studio, a Real Allegory Summing up Seven Years of My Life as an Artist, 1854-55, Musée du Louvre, Paris

I love the pure gusto with which Courbet painted landscapes. He often used a palette knife to apply the paint more thickly. In fact, Courbet and Cezanne worked together for a period making rugged, paint encrusted landscapes like the one below from the Musée d’Orsay.



For further information on Courbet and Corot, read page 21 in Impressionist Art - A Crash Course.

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