Lesson 2: The Impressionist Movement
Manet and Cezanne
Edouard Manet (1832-1883) is classified with the Impressionists, although only in a brief period later in his career did he adopt their approach of using small daubs of colour. His series of paintings of Venice, for example, are considered to be from his Impressionist period.
Manet was primarily a painter of social themes rendered using lots of broad areas of black and tending towards a flat surface. He was a mentor and friend of Berthe Morisot and their work shares some similarities. He produced some of the greatest images of French art, notably The Luncheon on the Grass (Le Dejeuner sur l'Herbe) (1863) shown below.
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) exhibited early on with the other Impressionists and kept up good relations with Renoir after leaving the group. Cezanne is somewhat uncomfortably included in the movement. His work became more and more concerned with structure and he later disdained the airy quality and lack of form that characterized much of impressionistic art. His work and influence will be discussed later, in the full course, as part of Post-Impressionism and Cubism.
Here's a picture of one of Cezanne's many still lifes:
