Impressionist Painting and the Birth of Modernity.

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For historians the modern era began with the Renaissance period. But for art historians, modern refers to a period and style that dates from the 1860s through to the 1970s. It is largely spoken of as primarily concerned with the style and the ideology of art produced during a period of time that started in Paris. The qualities of colour and flatness the artists used, and the increasing disinterest in subject is often a cause for intense discussion. During the nineteenth century, Paris became one of the most modern cities in the world. In his book The Painting of Modern Life, art historian T J Clark examines this period and the Impressionists painters showing that they documented an urban world in images that related to the new ways of living. “Something decisive happened in the history of art around Manet which set painting and the other arts upon a new course.” [The Painting of Modern Life, 1985]. The works of Edouard Manet demonstrate validity to Clark’s views that modern art emerged from this period. Impressionism was the art of the Parisians and is commonly associated with starting the new phase of ‘modern art’. Impressionist style paintings introduced some major innovations in painting, most notably the advent of outdoor painting, rendering with swift, often called sketchy and unfinished, brush marks to capture the fleeting aspect of nature. They also introduced a new style of depicting light, and the Divisionist technique. By painting outdoors, the subjectivity and planned style of painting was eliminated and replaced with a portrayal of what the painter perceived according to his own impression. Artists started to trust and express their inner visions through their work, becoming more independent and subjective, and began to seek freedom from the rules of academic art and from the demands of the public. They began to turn against the traditional ways of

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