Impressionism: Its Influence on Sculpture and Music

IMPRESSIONISM IN THE AMERICAS

Impressionism art - Eliseo d'Angelo Visconti

Eliseo d'Angelo Visconti – Born on July 30, 1866, in Italy, and died on October 15, 1944, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), was a painter, draftsman, and Italian-Brazilian designer. He is considered one of the most important Brazilian artists of the period and the most expressive representative of Impressionist painting in Brazil.

John Leslie Breck (1859-1899) - His father was a naval officer, John was born during a sea voyage from Hong Kong to the United States when his family was returning to the United States. He grew up and lived in Massachusetts. He was one of the first Americans to paint Impressionist paintings. He was also one of the first artists to travel to Europe in 1887, at the heart of Impressionism. In his stay in Giverny, he became friends with Claude Monet and there they painted together some scenes of the location. His pioneering style, revealed in his color, earned him the title of "the father of American Impressionism". He died at the age of 39 due to gas poisoning. He is buried in the Forest Hills cemetery in Boston.

Mary Cassatt (1843-1926) – Born in Allegheny. Her childhood was divided between the United States, France, and Germany. From a wealthy family, she received an excellent education. At a young age, she enrolled in the Academy of Art of Pennsylvania. At 23, she moved to Paris to improve her skills. She trained with Charles Chaplin, Thomas Couture, and Gerone. She decided to settle definitively in Paris, where she became friends with Degas and was advised by him to exhibit. She joined the Impressionism group in France alongside Monet, Renoir, and Degas. Her main theme was the relationship between mother and daughter. She was the introducer of Impressionism in the United States.

Impressionism art - Lidia in the garden — Lidia sitting in the garden with a dog. Mary Cassatt. 1880

IMPRESSIONIST SCULPTURE

The sculpture did not take long to be attracted to the battle for or against "modernism". The great French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) soon became a master and enjoyed public celebrity as an artist as great, if not greater, than any other of his time. However, even his works were the target of violent controversies among critics and were often considered alongside those of the rebel Impressionists.

Rodin despised the external aspect of finishing. He preferred to leave something to the imagination of the viewer. At times, he left part of the stone in a raw state, to give the impression that his figure was emerging and taking shape in that very moment, as in the sculpture "The Hand of God". The influence of Rodin contributed to making it easier to accept Impressionism outside the narrow circle of its admirers in France.

Impressionism art - Hand of God - Rodin — The Hand of God. Auguste Rodin. 1898 – Marble (height 92.9 cm) – Rodin Museum, Paris

IMPRESSIONIST MUSIC

Like its precursor in the visual arts, Impressionist music focused more on suggestion and atmosphere than on strong emotion or illustration of history, as in program music. It emerged as a reaction to the excesses of the Romantic Era, while this period was characterized as an era of dramatic use of the major and minor scales, Impressionist music tends to use more dissonance with less common scales, such as the hexatonic scale. The Romantic composers also used longer music genres, such as the symphony and the concerto, the Impressionist composers preferred shorter forms.

The influence of Impressionist visual art on its musical counterpart is well discussed. Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are generally considered the greatest Impressionist composers.

Claude-Achille Debussy - Born on August 22, 1862, and died on March 25, 1918. He was a French musician and composer. Debussy was an attentive observer and listener of nature. Several times he spoke of how the sound of the sea, the wind in the leaves of the trees, or the birds was recorded in his memory and then manifested in the music. Or, in the same way, the colors of the horizon line. In many of the titles of his works, in most cases, Debussy does not hide the origin of his inspiration and the influence of literature, plastic arts, or the contemplation of nature. In his Preludes, the composer reaches the maximum expression of all these extra-musical influences and what some authors call "the art of suggestion", that is, of leading the listener to visualize the music through sonic impressions.

JOSEPH MAURICE RAVEL - French composer, born on March 7, 1875, and died on December 28, 1937. Considered the most classical of the modern French composers, he presents in the early stages of his career the same artistic quality as his mature works.

He begins early music studies and, at 14, starts attending the Paris Conservatory. His first presentations of his works, in 1898, do not please the critics. In 1891, he comes in second place in the Rome Prize composition contest, but is systematically precluded in the re-editions of the contest, even presenting works of recognized technical and artistic value.

Domination by conservatism, in 1905, the jury declares him ineligible. By style, harmony, and theme, he is often associated with the Impressionist Debussy, but differs from him by his attraction to abstract musical structures. He introduces revolutionary innovations in the art of orchestration.

He becomes famous with works for orchestra, such as Rapsodia Espanhola (1908) and the ballets Bolero (1928) and Daphnis and Chloé (1912).