Impressionism and The City

I think the city inspires art that mirrors the movement of the city. Degas' subjects have blurry outlines and he focuses on the basics, such as the colours and actions of his subjects, as though everything is moving too fast to be able to see anything in great detail. As Ford Maddox Heuffer says, in impressionist writing, 'there would be conveyed the idea that all these human beings melt into the tide of humanity.'[1] Such movement gives the paintings, especially when seen all together, a sense of excitement, as though there is so much to see in so little time. For these scenes of everyday life all take place out in the big wide world and with each narrative we are dropped in media res, the metropolis being ‘a place upon which there is no beginning’ and no end. Having come from the other rooms where more traditional subjects pose for you against an empty backdrop, to now wondering through these scenes of life like a ghost, is a strange sensation; such intimacy with a subject who seems not to see you, transforms you from audience to flaneur.I think the main reason why the city inspires Impressionists is because the artist wants to paint feeling. Painting ‘the great moments, the poignant moods of his life’ is made so much easier by the city, as it is a background that is ‘always in the right note’. Perhaps this is why Impressionists are able to convey both the warmth and the melancholy of the city. Degas portrays both its familiarity and its alienation: for a local, homely feeling he plays boldly with light and colour. These scenes are alive, intimate, real bits of the whole, glimpsed through a window, or from a crowd, perhaps. The focus on colours, the way they jump out at the audience more than the features, also creates a sense of hurriedness and distance, as though passing unnoticed on a bus. The people themselves 'melt' into the background and become part of the 'not me' that merely serves to echo one's mood. This diffuseness can make one feel quite lonely.

However, individuality is at once crushed and celebrated by Impressionist art. Hueffer argues that modern man, whose talents are unchallenged and overlooked in the work place, picks up a hobby to assert his individuality, be it through a sport or merely personal adornment. And Degas kindly displays his subjects in these more defining and even heroic roles - the ballerina, the musician and the trapeze artist. However, for every dainty dancer bathed in light there is a lonely alcoholic, a beggar, or even a rape victim sunk in shadow. They dwell in the 'underbelly', the city's the tragic heroes.

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[1] All the quotes for this piece are taken from The Soul of London, by Ford Madox Hueffer.