In
the late 19th century, a groundbreaking new style of painting was evolving in
France by artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Edgar
Degas, and Pierre Auguste Renoir. This new genre featured rich, bold colors,
close attention to light and atmospheric effects, and loose
brushstrokes. French artists began to reject traditional academic
painting techniques that favored realism. This new style focused on
the way the human eye views the world at a quick glance, highlighting
the play of light on objects, rather than the portrayal of objects
and their “real-world”, detailed, solid surfaces. Distinctly
unpopular as an artistic style when first introduced, works in this
genre have now become some of the most easily recognized and sought
after. Original paintings by important Impressionist artists now
regularly break records at auction, and countless prints of the most
famous works are widely purchased by collectors worldwide.
Artists
in America became aware of these new techniques in the late 19th
and early 20th century as many young painters traveled to Europe to
study. Some artists in “The Golden State” began painting in this
new style, and eventually became the important California
Impressionists that are widely known and celebrated today. They
studied changing atmospheric effects as they worked “en plein-air”,
outdoors, to capture the beauty of the exceptional and unparalleled
beauty of the hills, mountains, deserts, beaches and farmlands of the
State.
The different styles
seen in Southern and Northern California Impressionist paintings were
developed in great part by the variances in climate and light in the
two distinct regions.
Southern
California Impressionism
In Southern
California, artists such as Guy Rose, Edgar Payne, William Wendt,
Maurice Braun, Orrin White, Granville Redmond, William Otte, Hanson Puthuff, Jack Wilkinson Smith, Joseph Kleitsch, and Alfred Mitchell were inspired by
the sunlight and the warm climate of the area.
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| Edgar Payne (1883 - 1947) "Rocks and Surf" SOLD |
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| William Wendt (1865 - 1946) "Announcement of Fall" SOLD |
The colors in their paintings tended to be brighter and more saturated than those of their counterparts in the Northern Areas of the state. Their brushstrokes were often bolder, stronger, and looser.
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Orrin White (1883 - 1969) "Southern California Landscape" SOLD |
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| Granville Redmond (1871 - 1935) "Wildflowers" SOLD |
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| Joseph Kleitsch (1882 - 1931) "Pont St. Michel, Paris" AVAILABLE NOW |
Northern
California Impressionism
In
contrast, Northern California Impressionism tended to be more
restrained, softer, and more muted, as a result of the foggier,
cooler weather and its effect on the atmosphere and light. The
American art movement known as “Tonalism” that began in the
1880's and lasted well into the 1920's was still very popular in this
part of the state and practiced by artists such as Percy Gray and
Will Sparks. Tonalism focused on creating an interpretation of
nature using muted colors, soft outlines, and subtle nuances and
gradations of single hues in a narrow range. Some artists, such as
Armin Hansen, William Ritschel, Alice Chittenden and
Jules Pages, however, practiced a more traditional form of
Impressionism that featured stronger colors, as well as bolder,
looser brushstrokes.
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| Percy Gray (1869 - 1952) "Forest Glade, Point Lobos" SOLD |
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| William Ritschel (1864 - 1949) "Point Lobos" SOLD |
Armin Hansen (1886 - 1957)
"Aground"
SOLD
For additional information about available California Impressionist paintings, please contact our staff at William A. Karges Fine Art in Carmel, California by phone at (800) 833-9185 or by email to gallery@kargesfineart.com or visit our website at www.kargesfineart.com.
