IMPRESSIONISM AND THE QUESTION OF CAPITALISM “Great art,” Honoré Balzac wrote, “is impossible without large fortunes, without secure and private means.” Emile Zola also bowed to the power of money, saying, “…money has emancipated the writer; money as created modern...
WHISTLER AND THE PEACOCK ROOM Part Two The term “artistic freedom” may seem like a given but for nearly a century after Kant established the principal, “freedom” was rarely practiced. But Whistler took the concept seriously and set out to test...
THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS Gender and Class in Impressionism The Impressionists were unusual in that they were a group of artists. For artists to function as a group or as a whole, outside the traditional art establishment. was a new phenomenon. ...
HOW THE IMPRESSIONISTS PAINTED The concept of the “impression” is central to Impressionist practice. As early as 1742, the British philosopher, David Hume, distinguished between “impressions” and “ideas:” “..lively...
Whistler, Manet and The White Girl One of the most overlooked avant-garde pioneers was the American in Paris (and London), the expatriate, James Whistler. Whistler was one of the first international artists, who showed in London and Parisian Salons. Although...
THE BARBIZON SCHOOL AND LANDSCAPE PAINTING On the edge of the Forest of Fountainebleau—once the hunting domain of French kings—lay the tiny village of Barbizon. As Paris grew more and more urbanized, its inhabitants yearned for a taste of the country and...
