American Impressionism
•
Metcalf: Giverny
• Redfield:
Bucks County Winter
By the late 1880s, the increasing awareness of Impressionism, the "new"
French painting, drew many converts among the American artists then in Paris
to study in the art academies. Attracted to the high-keyed color and broken
brushstroke of Impressionism, the Americans soon adopted Impressionist strategies
and subjects—cityscapes, scenes of popular entertainments, and sun-dappled
landscapes. The impact of French Impressionism on American artists led to
a search for a deeper, more intense way of looking at nature and the appreciation
for the subtleties of light, atmosphere, and color evident in even the most
ordinary or familiar of landscapes. Though French artists were primarily concerned
with transient effects, whether of light or of modern life, American Impressionists
preferred strong sunlight to define rather than dissolve form.
In the summers when the academies were closed, artists typically went to the artists’ colonies in the villages outside Paris, such as Pont-Aven, Concarneau, the Fontainebleau. Giverny, a small village located halfway between Paris and Rouen in the Seine valley, was held in enormous esteem, not just for the general ambiance but especially for its most renowned resident, Claude Monet. His presence attracted other artists, and reports of American painters arriving in Giverny began as early as 1885. Willard Metcalf was one of the earliest visitors, regularly spending extended summers at Giverny, where he developed a close friendship with Monet. In time, the village became a colony of American Impressionists, a place where expatriate Americans could lead a bohemian life in a supportive environment. Many of these artists, after they returned to America, created similar communities and artists’ colonies, most based in New England.
The University of Kentucky Art Museum contains a selection
of important American Impressionist paintings and works on paper by Willard
LeRoy Metcalf, Childe Hassam, Edward Willis Redfield, John Christen Johansen,
and Walter Griffin.
WILLARD LEROY METCALF American, 1858-1925
Giverny, 1887
Oil on linen, 26 x 32 1/8"
University of Kentucky Art Museum. Gift of the estate of Addison M. Metcalf.
1984.19.10
In the fall of 1883, Metcalf traveled to Paris to study in the Académie Julian alongside other young American artists. For five years, Metcalf remained in France, frequently painting in the artists’ colonies of Grèz and Pont-Aven. His most formative experiences were his visits in 1886 to Giverny and the home of Claude Monet. (Metcalf soon became a welcome participant in the daily life of the Monet household: he hiked and sketched in the countryside around Giverny in the company of Monet’s step-daughters and often accompanied the artist’s son on walks.) From Monet, Metcalf picked up the key elements of Impressionism – high-keyed color, division of light into its component hues, and broken brushwork. He incorporated the French style into his existing tonalist approach to landscape painting – a preference for muted earth colors and the depiction of space as shallow planes. Giverny reveals Metcalf investigating the properties of light and the effect of patterned shadows, with the paint freely applied.
The University
of Kentucky Art Museum collection also contains a Metcalf oil painting from
the 1920s, Morning in Late Winter, several works on paper, and a selection
of the artist’s sketchbooks.
EDWARD WILLIS REDFIELD
American, 1869-1965
Bucks County Winter, 1898
Oil on canvas, 24½ x 29½"
University of Kentucky Art Museum. Gift of Mattie Schmidt Bowyer in memory
of her husband, Charles Henry Bowyer. 1946.1.12
Redfield was the leading spirit of Pennsylvania "Impressionists"
and critics praised his matter-of-fact depictions that avoided sentiment and
anecdotal detail. A native of Delaware, Redfield studied art at the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts (under William Merritt Chase) before traveling to Paris
with Robert Henri in 1887. He later recalled that, when he was in France,
"our gods were painters like Degas and Monet." As early as 1891,
when he was in the art colony of Fontainebleau, the artist was fascinated
by the beauty of a landscape cloaked in snow, a subject which would become
his signature theme after returning to the United States. Redfield’s
working method was to paint on site and to allow one "tone" to infuse
the scene in color and in mood. Bucks County Winter is a view from near the
artist’s home at New Hope, Pennsylvania, and its diffuse light of twilight
and restrained color scheme are typical of the artist’s winter landscapes
which seem to dissolve amid the effects of light and weather.
