The Road to Modern Art

Between 1800 and 1900 so much happened in French painting that the period seems like several centuries compressed into one. Delacroix expressed energy in a free handling of brilliant color, as opposed to the classically smooth and perfect finish of Ingres. Courbet painted with a hard, bright realism, and Corot with fresh spontaneity. Impressionism was not only a bold new style; it also represented a new range of subject matter, a new way of looking at the world. It was a re-evaluation of what art should be about. One of its chief concerns was with light and its ability to dissolve forms and modify colors. Detail was sacrificed to the overall momentary impression. While using the bright palette of Impressionism, some artists could not entirely abandon line and structure. Cézanne in particular had different objectives, seeking to express the geometrical basis of all forms, thereby pointing the way to Cubism and ultimately to abstract painting. Other painters featured are Pissarro, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Seurat, Van Gogh and Rousseau.

Part of the series The National Gallery - A Private View