ep89: Impressionism is bad photography

Arts & Entertainment with Chris & Randall

Randall goes on a deep dive of modern art in an attempt to describe what leads to abstraction.

(You may download slideshow here: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/chrisandrandall/ep89_slideshow.zip)

Topics discussed include:

figurative art religious art fantasy art landscape painting Alexander Cozens John Robert Cozens Thomas Monroe J. M. W. Turner Theory of Colours by Goethe Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes En plein air (open-air painting) painting technology Eugène Delacroix photography technology Paris Salon Impressionism Claude Monet

Timeline discussed:

1785 -- Alexander Cozens published a pamphlet on this manner of drawing landscapes from blots, called A New Method of Assisting the Invention in Drawing Original Compositions of Landscape 1776 -- Cozen's son, John Robert Cozens displays A Landscape with Hannibal in His March Over the Alps, Showing to His Army Fertile Plains of Italy, now lost 1777 -- John Robert Cozens paints watercolor Lake of Albano and Castel Gandolfo at Sunset which auctions for 2.4 million pounds in 2010 1794 -- John Robert Cozens has nervous breakdown. Committed to Bethlem Royal Hospital. Famous doctor/art collector Thomas Monro buys his collection. Dies 1797, 3 year later. Painter JMW Turner is in his circle 1800 -- The theory of 'En plein air' painting is credited to Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (1750–1819) first expounded in a treatise entitled Reflections and Advice to a Student on Painting, Particularly on Landscape 1810 -- Goethe’s Theory of Colours 1812 -- J.M.W. Turner paints Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps, slide 004. Inspired by A Landscape with Hannibal in His March Over the Alps, Showing to His Army Fertile Plains of Italy 1824 -- Massacre at Chios by Eugène Delacroix 1824 -- Delacroix Horse Frightened by a Storm 1830 -- Delacroix Liberty Leading the People 1831 -- The Great Wave at Kanagawa 1839 -- France pays Daguerre a pension in exchange to publish his photographic process. France considers this a gift to the world. By 1853, an estimated three million daguerreotypes per year were being produced in the United States alone 1841 -- Delacroix Christ on the Sea of Galilee 1841 -- American John Goffe Rand, a portrait painter and inventor, invents the tin paint tube. The tin tube allowed unused oil paint to be stored and used later without drying out. Renoir said “Without tubes of paint, there would have been no Impressionism.” 1850s -- Field easel invented 1862 -- Delacroix Shipwreck on the Coast 1863 -- Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Armand Guillaumin, Paul Cézanne, and others' works are all rejected by the Salon. Emperor Napoleon III founds the Salon des Refusés "exhibition of rejects" to display their works. 1872 -- Claude Monet paints Impression, Sunrise 1888 -- Monet starts painting Haystacks series

recorded March 1, 2022

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