Exhibition at The Memorial Art Gallery
Rochester, New York
The most recent exhibition at The Memorial Art Gallery which opened this month features paintings on loan from the Worcester Art Museum and it is well worth the time to go over there for a visit. The "Frontiers of Impressionism" contains many notable artists and a few that I had no knowledge of. An interesting thing that I found with this show was that many artists were just visiting in Europe when Impressionism was getting started, and they brought back a new and exciting look for their work here in the USA.
We can assume that Impressionism found a stronghold in France, and there were important American artists who brought home the lessons they learned in Europe when they met up with a new, refreshing style. I have been to see many museum shows, but this one presented me with works I had never seen before including in my books about Impressionist art. Among the strongest paintings on view is the oil painting by Paul Signac called: "Golfe Juan". In this instance, Signac employs a pointillist technique making little dots of paint which our eyes blend together to create a tonality of color.
Paul Signac, 1896 , oil painting called: "Golfe Juan"
Impressionism in practice let artists be much more responsive to the light in nature and it can be said that the artists captured a lot of the spirit of life in their works. There is a little Cezanne painting of a card player here which you might realize is a study for a much larger work which you might see at The Metropolitan Museum in NYC. Even in this small study Cezanne gives it character which he plays out again and again in his paintings.
Paul Cezanne study for Card Players
Another of my Favorite artists is Corot and he is represented here with a landscape from Ville de Avray which is located west of Paris, France. Corot's paintings often have a certain softness which he employs in many of his compositions. In this painting you can see a man with his fishing pole casting out into a pond with another figure on the left. This is a timeless artwork and Corot brings out a certain peacefulness there in the country.
Corot painting, Ville De Avray
So, the American painters certainly could learn a lot from masters like Corot, and I see this reflected in the work of artists like George Inness. In his painting of people fishing in a wooded lake I find a deep resonance with the spirit of Corot.
George Inness
Talking about mastery, another American painter who is in this show presents a violent seascape and that of course is Winslow Homer. I can't think of anyone who could paint waves crashing on the shore better than Homer. So these are just a few samples from the current exhibition on at the MAG. There is much more to see than the landscape although this is truly one area that Impressionism can claim for posterity!
Winslow Homer at The Memorial Art Gallery
