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DVD The Impressionists - The Other French Revolution
This epic documentary does a wonderful job of recapturing the revolutionary impact the impressionists made while providing a historical and artistic context for this extraordinary group of painters. The work of Monet, Degas, Morisot, and their fellow impressionists has now become so familiar that its power to shock has all but disappeared.
Young and resolutely modern, these artists threw off the shackles of academic art to capture everyday life in paintings that were iconoclastic in both style and subject. At first they struggled to survive because their work was rejected by the conservative Paris Salon, but those with independent means helped those without (Monet in particular was frequently rescued from poverty by his friends), and gradually they became impossible to ignore. Bruce Alfred's script thoroughly explains the development of the impressionists' approach to art and reveals fascinating aspects of their individual personalities, while a combination of dramatic reconstructions, period photographs, and the paintings themselves creates a rich and informative visual tapestry. Anyone with an interest in the history of art will find much to enjoy. --Simon Leake
Review(s): DVD The Impressionists - The Other French Revolution
Luminous & Brilliant - A Must See For ALL Art Lovers
A&E's special on The Impressionists is Luminous. Principle writer and director Bruce Alfred illustrates the revolutionary, artistic impulses of a brilliant young group of painters who feverishly worked together to break the confines of 19th century traditional painting. Alfred fuses together the historical context of 19th century art Europe with delightfully animated biographies of the Impressionist artists.
In 1859, Claude Monet, the youthful, rebellious, dazzlingly artistic, fame-seeking leader of the group burst forth onto the Parisian scene like balefire. Knowing he was a brilliant painter, Monet sought to breathe new artistic ideals into the electrifying Parisian art scene. He wanted to challenge the prestigious Salon Jury with his exquisite seascape paintings. Monet painted the Life and Nature surrounding him, instead of painting traditional, historical paintings. He immediately befriended liberal Camille Pissaro, an avant-garde painter of landscapes and everyday Island life, who was also longing to abandon traditional painting.
Together, Monet and Pissaro banished from their canvases the traditionally accepted historical, mythological, and religious paintings of their time; instead, they began painting life as they experienced it. They began to paint Sensations - fractured sun light enveloping trees, water shimmering with light, Parisians rushing down a busy street.
By 1862, Monet and Pissaro surrounded themselves with other, artistically adventurous visionaries: traditionalist August Renoir, the notoriously shocking and egocentric Edouard Manet, obsessive-compulsive Edgar Degas, and the oppressed Bertha Morisot, who would receive artistic praise from these brilliant men, inspiring her to remain the sole female artist in the male-dominated art world.
It would take 12 years (1874) before art critics would finally have the chance to critique their paintings. The critiques, however, were ill-fated; their works were deemed incomplete; critics considered the works "impressions" of what the completed painting might look like, if the artists went back and finished their paintings. The artists, however, did not...
This group forged a lifelong friendship, painting together amidst war, poverty, mental anguish, love, rejection, disappointment, and finally, in their dying years, positive recognition.
A Great Impression!
This set is a truly captivating opus in all respects. Aside from the most informative historical content, the production is beautifully presented in a way that both fascinates and captivates the viewer, enveloping and transporting him back in time.
The appreciation and understanding gained for the artists is wonderful within the context of their individual techniques, hardships and struggles to become accepted. The paintings, needless to say, are visual feasts skillfully presented. The musical soundtrack and superb narration are models for the documentary genre.
The Impressionists
The DVD was fairly well put together and added knowledge of that era. I recommend it to someone interested in this unconventional type of genre.
Related DVD's The Impressionists - The Other French Revolution
The acknowledged "father of modern art" is profiled in this documentary, which is not merely informative but visually engaging. A number of artists and art historians comment on Paul Cézanne, making note that while details about his life are somewhat sketchy, we know he was a boyhood friend of writer Emile Zola, and he grew up to be a troubled loner who spent most of his career in obscurity. Cézanne was "obsessed with flesh, yet terrified of it," notes one expert in an interview, explaining the early work, examples of which are shown, which is filled with images of brutality and violence. Moving to Paris, Cézanne spent his days studying in the Louvre, found an unlikely influence in the music of Wagner, and eventually developed his distinctive style with its passionate use... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Cezanne - Paul Cezanne DVD Release Date: Released the 23 January 2001 THIS TITLE IS CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE. If you would like to purchase this title, we recommend that you occasionally check this page to see if it has become available.
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It just doesn't feel right having Michelangelo as a speaker with an old man's voice, telling about his own life. I would have much appreciated an historical approach, instead of this "Hollywood type" comedy. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Snyder DVD Release Date: Released the 18 November 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This illuminating 1989 study of Edouard Manet celebrates the French painter through a densely informative survey of Manet's work, the historical and social context of its creation, and its permanent effect on the history of art. "Before the invention of cinematography," asserts the highbrow narration, "Manet created the freeze-frame," eliminating the possibility of sentimental interpretation and capturing his subjects in "those moments of absence when the mind is elsewhere." Thus did Manet become the founder of modern art, seizing power over public taste with such then-scandalous works as Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (a.k.a. "Luncheon on the Grass") and Olympia, and emphasizing silence to create scenes and portraits with a "strange gravity," reflecting Manet's... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Didier Baussy DVD Release Date: Released the 07 August 2001 Usually ships within 5 to 6 days
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This wonderful film successfully re-creates the period by filming on location and by meticulous attention to costume and sets. Inevitably there are gaps in its treatment, even as there are gaps in what we know of Leonardo's life and thoughts. The 'reconstructed' episodes of lost biography help, but other periods are ignored. Or are they?
Then I thought to time the episodes. Here are some questions for Questar, who released the film on VHS and DVD. The feature length is given as four and a half hours (270 minutes) on the packaging. The actual length is three hours 50 minutes (230 minutes). To be exact, the parts are 60, 39, 41, 45 and 45 minutes respectively. Questar, why did you remove 40 minutes of Castellani's film? The parts I can remember as missing are those featuring... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Renato Castellani DVD Release Date: Released the 01 April 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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