For this research I was required to look at the impressionists’ way of applying paint, and chose paintings by artists who caught my eye because of the unusual way they did so -
Vincent Van Gogh -
The hospital at Saint Remy
I really like Van Gogh’s short and curly energetic brush strokes applied with impasto-like thick texture, in rhymical patterns. I attempted this style on a tree in my Exercise Hard and Soft Landscapes in part 4
Reference : https://www.artsy.net/artwork/vincent-van-gogh-hospital-at-saint-remy
Claude Monet, France, 1840-1926, La Grenouillere, 1869 oil on canvas, 74.6cn x 99.7 cm
Reference: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437135
I find the impression of light on water Monet achieves very effective, the broken marks in dark, middle tones and white for the highlights. It’s documented that Monet painted with a flat square brush to achieve his flat directional short brush strokes, and that he applied thick paint with a palette knife, which allowed him to paint faster, create texture, and capture the essence of the scene.
Paul Cezanne, France, 1839-1906, The Bathers, 1894-1905, Oil on Canvas 127.2 x 196.1 cm
Reference: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/paul-cezanne-bathers-les-grandes-baigneuses
The application of paint in this painting looks very soft, seemingly applied gradually with washes of colours to create the depth. Cezanne’s style of applying paint appeals to me more than the Monet.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Lake Keitele
I had the privilege of seeing an exhibition by Akseli Gallen-Kallela at the National Gallery and I was very struck by this elegant silvery work, so full of light, and particularly by the way he applied paint, very thickly, like impasto.
Reference: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/akseli-gallen-kallela-lake-keitele
I noticed the energy in his mark making, without intention of soft transitions from one colour to another, such as shown in the clouds of the Lake Keitele picture, just apparently random hard shapes that nevertheless work splendidly. Quite unlike my own tendency to soften my mark making and transitions, which I enjoy so much. When I try to do something more impressionistic or unorthodox it doesn’t work for me, but I keep trying.