Impressionists on the Water a new exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum by Daniel Finamore The maritime geography of France has played an essential role in the French art tradition. Its coastlines along two seas and an ocean, picturesque harbors, and extensive river-and-canal system have all inspired French artists, as have the industries and occupations in these environments. In the later 1800s a group of artists turned away from styles and techniques that emphasized the detail of documentary realism or the emotional impact of romantic evocations of nature. Ultimately known as the Impressionists, these artists embraced
pure and vi brant applications of paint, the Beeting visual effects of light and movement, and candid presentations of contemporary life. Artists who fo llowed this vanguard used similar strategies to explore color and form, some reaching beyond the visual realm toward symbolic impact, and often drawing and making prints rather than painting. Throughout this turbulent period in art, maritime subjects were radically transformed but maintained their appeal. The popular French pastime of pleasure boating captivated C laude
Boats Moored at Le Petit-Gennevilliers, 1874 by Claude Monet (1840-1926)
On the horizon, factory buildings with smokestacks loom on the riverbank suggesting the encroachment of industrialization. Impressionist painters often incorporated elements of contemporary life in their works, even in picturesque settings like this boat basin at Argenteuil, which Monet likely painted from his studio boat.
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SEA HISTORY 145, WINTER 2013- 14