Johan Barthold Jongkind (June 3, 1819 – February 9, 1891)

Moonlight over a Canal, Dordrecht

1876

Monet said of Jongkind, "I owe the final education of my eye to him." No faint praise. Jongkind was an amazing artist, who expressed a constant softness in his art, which travelled from Romanticism into Impressionism, and enamored many Impressionists in the earliest days of that style to him for that softness. But there is also a considerable amount of tragedy in his works  I can't quite put my finger on it, and if you know better how to explain it, please leave your version in the comments, but there is a constant melancholy, in the calm darkness and sunlight. This is not too surprising, though, as in his life, Jongkind was very unhappy and only briefly successful. 

Perhaps the tragic quality is a calm too calm.

Skaters in Holland

1863

Near Dordrecht

1870

Boatman by a Windmill at Sundown

1859

The Interior of the Port at Rotterdam, Effect of Moonlight

1875

Return! and Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 – December 5, 1926) II

                                                         

Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois

1867

Well, hello there readers. It's been a long while since my last update. And I suppose, for those who may be interested, I should explain my extended posting slumber.

To pick up from my previous post, I had begun a new job and moved within New York City, which took up a significant amount of my free time; but then, just a couple of months later, I moved a second time: to Paris. Now, even to this minute, I'm not completely certain why I made that cross-Atlantic move, but, nevertheless, here I am. And here I've spent all this time becoming acclimated to my new home. 

Having achieved some level of comfort in France, I want to attempt to reanimate this site, though I can't promise that it will be very daily in the next, few weeks, as the engine of my habitude has to warm up. 

So, introductions aside, let's late-start this year with my favorite French painter, Claude Monet. 

A Corner of the Apartment

1875

At the Parc Monceau

1878

Bed of Chrysanthemums

1897

The Bodmer Oak, Fontainebleau Forest

1865

Self-Portrait

1917

Gustave Caillebotte (August 19, 1848 – February 21, 1894)

                                                                                                                                     

Woman at a Dressing Table

c. 1873

Caillebotte was a wonderful artist with a great grasp on representing soft emotions, though he is remembered far more, rather unfortunately, for his patronage of the arts, specifically the Impressionists. Patrons are littered throughout the arts, either out of the fondness or necessity of the painter; and they certainly aren't frivolous characters in history; but certainly the value of the patron isn't above the artist; so what should we make of an artist who  is remembered more fondly as a patron? (Did you notice how many semicolons I used?) Personally, I think he's a great artist, and all else is secondary.  

Fruit Displayed on a Stand

c. 1882

Paris Street

1877

Chrysanthemums, Garden at Petit Gennevilliers

1893

Floor Strippers

1875

The Yerres, Rain

1875

Naked Woman Lying on a Couch

1873

Display of Chickens and Game Birds

1882

Rising Road

1881

Self-Portrait

c. 1892

Henri Martin (August 5, 1860 - November 12, 1943)

                                                                                                                     

Olive Trees by the Sea

The posts a bit late today, but better late than never. Anyway: Martin: Martin was never one to create a revolution in the art world, but he was a painter that consistently created wonderful pieces. It seems almost condescending to say of Martin that he was a capable artist, because capability isn't enough to make art, but, among greats such as Gauguin and van Gogh, he doesn't quite stand out. Yet there is a wonderful beauty to a great many of his works; a beauty, which was recognized among his fellow artists, but never quite in an uproar. 

Ducks on the Vert

Laborers Prepare the Vines in Quercy

Vase of Flowers

c. 1910

Silence

1894-1897

Self-Portrait

1912

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (February 27, 1863 – August 10, 1923)

                                                                                                                                      

Promenade on the Beach

1907

For me, Sorolla y Bastida stands among the greatest Impressionists, holding himself ably even in the company of Monet. I can recall once walking tiredly through the Met, and finding myself shocked at one of Sorolla's paintings of a beach, especially shocked at never having heard of Sorolla before. And, unfortunately, I'm not the exception, as he's not the sort of name to slip off of the tongues of young artists today. Though I shouldn't make it seem as if I dug him out of the cellars of history, because Sorolla is present, but in a rather set-aside way, which I think him wholly undeserving of. What do you think of him?

Children on the Beach

1910

The Siesta

1912

Kissing the Relic

1893

The Queen's Bath, Valsain

1907

Resting Bacchante

1887

Self-Portrait

1911

Théo van Rysselberghe (November 23, 1862 - December 14, 1926)

                                                                                                                    

The Burnished Hour

1897

Van Rysselberghe was a monumental figure during his lifetime, constantly recreating his style as new influences  came within reach. It would be an exhausting exercise to list his influences and friends, suffice it to say that nearly every group he was contemporary with, excluding his last decade or so, was very fond of having his acquaintance (in his last years he looked down on the art of figures such as Picasso). His work is some of the most vivacious of his period, especially his final nudes, which have a strong quality of life. 

Madame Theo van Rysselberghe

1907

Encampment near a Moroccan Village

c. 1888

Dario de Regoyos Playing the Guitar

1882

Figures near a Well in Morocco

1882-1883

Man at the Rudder

1892

Portrait of Marguerite van Mons

1886

In the Shade of the Pines

c. 1905

The Model's Siesta

1920

Eugène Boudin (July 12, 1824 – August 8, 1898)

                                                                                                

Sky

c. 1860-1865

The sky is a capricious subject, which artists have long strained to capture. And it is a subject that has a great deal of meaning for Man; inevitably all sorts of emotions and ideas have been collected into that great something known, long ago, as Ouranos. And Boudin, out of a tremendous and grand group of artists, is often considered the greatest sky-painter. Even the fantastic Corot had said to Boudin, after gazing at his works, "You are the master of the sky." And it is no small additional note that Monet found pleasure and profit in studying at Boudin's studio. But, what do you think: the master of the sky?

Sky at Sunset

c. 1890

Cherbourg, the Port

1883 

Cows in the Pasture

1888

A Squall from Northwest

1895

Boats at Anchor Along the Shore

c. 1880-1885

The Effect of Moonlight or St. Valery Canal

1891