| The impressionists
transformed the way we look at the world. Yet their contemporaries
were so shocked at their unconventional methods that the first
Impressionist exhibition of 1874 provoked howls of laughter.
Newspaper critics mockingly warned women and children to avoid
exposure to the lunacy. Ironically, the Impressionists considered
themselves Realists, whose aim was to create an equivalent
for the optical effects they observed in nature. They studied
how white light is broken into myriad colours on contact with
air, water and skin. And they discovered that shadows are
not black, or brown, but full of colour.
Equally fascinated by scientific studies of motion, the Impressionists
experimented with methods of suggesting movement and the quick
glance of casual looking. To achieve this "snapshot"
effect, they employed radical techniques: unusual viewing
angles, asymmetrical designs and forms cut off at the picture
edge. Although their sensual paintings may seem straightforward,
the Impressionists penetrated beyond surface appearances to
reveal the psychology of modern life. |
