The Impressionist Landscape: Style, Place and Global Legacies 1870-1920

We will consider Impressionism as a dominant style of the Parisian art world, first undertaken as an extension of Barbizon naturalism, but soon expanded into an avant-garde style that objectified sensation and emotion in the name of truth in representation. We will examine the place of individual perception, the physiology of sight, and theories of the natural in the development of the Impressionist landscape, through the consideration of style, genre, artistic theory, and these artists' investment in particular sites. Furthermore, the social, commercial and critical networks that supported the movement will be analyzed. Key artists include Monet, Degas, Morisot, Renoir, Cassatt, and also early work of Post-Impressionists. We will also discuss the relationship of the Impressionist landscape to the development of modernist abstraction, and the aesthetic and nationalist motivations for its appropriation across the globe. An effort will be made early in the semester to attend a significant Cezanne exhibition in Chicago that includes contemporary global responses to Cezanne's artistic legacy. Prerequisite: L01 113, Intro to Western Art; L01 215, Intro to Modern Art; or permission of instructor.
Course Attributes: FA AH; EN H; AS HUM; AS LCD; AH MEA

The Impressionist Landscape: Style, Place and Global Legacies 1870-1920

GLOBAL STUDIES 4867

Section 01