Monday, 6 April 2026

From Monet to Warhol - 1: Impressionism




From Monet to Warhol  1,  Impressionism




at the Goulandris Foundation, Athens.

A wonderful exhibition, which gave me great pleasure. Firstly because it was great seeing paintings that I had seen before and loved. Secondly because some of it was new to me, and this includes artists I had not come across before.

The ensemble of eighty three works of forty five artists, mostly paintings,  which is on loan from a Swiss private collection, was assembled over three generations, affording us the opportunity to retrace the history of modern art from the 1880s until the present day.

Most of the major movements, currents and trends that have marked the evolution of painting are touched upon here: Impressionism, Symbolism, Neo-Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Japonisme, Synthetism, the Nabis, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. They reflect the increasing changes imposed on perspective, colour and figuration, as well as the historical context in which they were conceived.


Impressionism:

In 1873 a group of young artists mounted their first exhibition in Paris. The critic Louis Leroy came up with the pejorative term 'Impressionism' to refer to them. The group included Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro. 

The movement is characterised by: visible brushstrokes; open composition; emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time); ordinary subject matter;  unusual visual angles; and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience.



Camille Pissaro, Delafolie Brick Kiln at Eragny, 1888, (oil on canvas)




Camille Pissarro, The  Flock of Sheep, Eragny, 1888, (oil on canvas)





Claude Monet, Water Lilies, 1914, (oil on canvas)

In 1899 Monet started painting the vast water garden that he designed and in the middle of which reigned supremely his celebrated water lilies. This version announced the large panel that he created expressly for the space at the Orangeries des Tuileries museum.




Edgar Degas, The Laundresses, 1902-04, (charcoal and stump on tracing paper)




Charles Angrand, Maternity, 1896, (conte crayon on paper)




Georges Seurat, The Artist's Mother, 1882, (conte crayon on paper)




Berthe Morisot, Girl with Fan, 1893, (oil on canvas)




Berthe Morisot, Girl with a Cat, 1892, (oil on canvas)




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