Introduction
By the first impressionist exhibition in 1874, there had been more than 200 years of government control of the arts in France. For 300 years artists had adhered to traditions established in the Renaissance. And to cap it off, oil paint itself had barely changed in 400 years.
Simulated Impressionist's Palette
2006 recreation of Monet's palette of the 1870s
Revolution in Paint
September 17, 2006–February 11, 2007
French 19th-Century Gallery, Free
Curated by Perry Hurt, NCMA Conservator
Presented by SunCom Wireless
It was time for a revolution!
Young painters Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, and others felt frustrated by the confining traditions of academic painting. Inspired by an unprecedented number of newly invented paint pigments and by a few maverick painters who preceded them, these artists invented a new style that we call impressionism.
The North Carolina Museum of Art has mounted a major international loan exhibition, Monet in Normandy (October 15, 2006–January 14, 2007), featuring 50 paintings by the great French impressionist master Claude Monet. In conjunction with this exhibition, the Museum’s conservation and curatorial departments have developed a focus exhibition calledRevolution in Paint (September 17, 2006–February 11, 2007), made possible by the generous support of SunCom Wireless.
Revolution is based on a simple premise: A radical change in artist’s pigments during the 19th century enabled a revolution in painting. The exhibition explores the innovations of the impressionists—with special emphasis on their choice of pigments—as well the academic traditions against which the impressionist rebelled. This Web exhibition highlights as well as supplements the actual exhibition.
The birth of modern science and the Industrial Revolution in 18th century Europe supplied an unprecedented expansion in the artist’s palette. More than 20 intense yellow, green, blue, red, and orange pigments were invented between 1800 and 1870. The impressionists took advantage of the new pigments’ inherent chromatic and physical properties to forego the laborious techniques of traditional academic painting for a quicker and more direct painting style.
But yet another invention helped make the impressionist revolution possible. A frustrated South Carolina painter named John G. Rand invented the collapsible metal paint tube—and suddenly paint became portable. Now the impressionists could leave the studio and academic painting behind. Moving outdoors, they could seize the flickering light and capture the pulsing life around them.
Today the prismatic colors, impasto, and quick summary style of impressionist painting receive nearly universal praise, but when these revolutionary works of art where first exhibited in the 1870s, they prompted quite the opposite response: They were ridiculed and condemned by both critics and the public. We hope Revolution in Paint will serve to remind us of the radical and unconventional nature of a new school of painting that would survive the harsh criticism of its day and come to captivate a world audience.
“Some people burst out laughing at the sight of these things, but they just leave me heartsick. The self-declared artists style themselves the intransigents, the impressionists; they take canvas, paint, and brushes, throw some color on at random, and sign the result.”—Albert Wolff, art critic, 1876
“The things that the impressionists put on their canvases do not correspond to those found on the canvases of previous painters. It is different, and so it is bad.” —Theodore Duret, art critic, 1878
Revolution in Paint tours
Selected Fridays, 7 p.m. October 20, November 17, December 15 and January 19 or by appointmentVisit the Revolution in Paint exhibition and learn how new paint technology revolutionized art in Monet’s time.
To schedule a guided tour for a time not listed above, please contact Angela Faulk at (919) 664-6820 or afaulk@ncmamail.dcr.state.nc.us.
