Nature contains the elements, in color and form, of all pictures, as
the keyboard contains the notes of all music. But the artist is born to
pick, and choose, and group with science, these elements, that the
result may be beautiful—as the musician gathers his notes, and forms
his chords, until he brings forth from chaos glorious harmony.^5
To underscore his artistic intentions, Whistler began calling his
paintings “arrangements” or “nocturnes.”Nocturne in Black and Gold,or
The Falling Rocket (FIG. 31-13), is a daring painting with gold flecks
and splatters that represent the exploded firework punctuating the
darkness of the night sky. More interested in conveying the atmospheric
effects than in providing details of the scene, Whistler emphasized creat-
ing a harmonious arrangement of shapes and colors on the rectangle of
his canvas, an approach that appealed to many 20th-century artists.
These works angered many 19th-century viewers, however. The British
critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) responded to this painting with a
scathing review accusing Whistler of “flinging a pot of paint in the pub-
lic’s face” with his style. In reply, Whistler sued Ruskin for libel. During
the trial, Ruskin’s attorney asked Whistler about the subject ofNocturne:What is your definition of a Nocturne?
It is an arrangement of line, form, and colour first;... Among my
works are some night pieces; and I have chosen the word Nocturne
because it generalizes and amplifies the whole set of them....The
nocturne in black and gold is a night piece and represents the fire-
works at Cremorne [Gardens in London].
Not a view of Cremorne?
If it were a view of Cremorne, it would certainly bring about
nothing but disappointment on the part of the beholders. It is an
artistic arrangement.^6The court transcript notes that the spectators in the courtroom
laughed at that response, but Whistler won the case. However, his
victory had sadly ironic consequences for him. The judge in the case,showing where his—and the public’s—sympathies lay, awarded the
artist only one farthing (less than a penny) in damages and required
him to pay all of the court costs, which ruined him financially.Post-Impressionism
By 1886 most critics and a large segment of the public accepted the
Impressionists as serious artists. Just when their images of contempo-
rary life no longer seemed crude and unfinished, however, some of
these painters and a group of younger followers came to feel that the
Impressionists were neglecting too many of the traditional elements
of picture making in their attempts to capture momentary sensations
of light and color on canvas. In a conversation with the influential art
dealer Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939) in about 1883, Renoir com-
mented: “I had wrung impressionism dry, and I finally came to the
conclusion that I knew neither how to paint nor how to draw. In a
word, impressionism was a blind alley, as far as I was concerned.”^7 By
the 1880s, some artists were more systematically examining the prop-
erties and the expressive qualities of line, pattern, form, and color.
Among them were Dutch-born Vincent van Gogh and the French
painter Paul Gauguin, who focused their artistic efforts on exploring
the expressive capabilities of formal elements, and Georges Seurat
and Paul Cézanne, also from France, who were more analytical in ori-
entation. Because their art had its roots in Impressionist precepts and
methods, but is not stylistically homogeneous, these artists and oth-
ers have become known as the Post-Impressionists.
HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTRECClosest to the Impres-
sionists in many ways was the French artist Henri de Toulouse-
Lautrec(1864–1901), who deeply admired Degas and shared the
Impressionists’ interest in capturing the sensibility of modern life.
His work, however, has an added satirical edge to it and often borders
on caricature. Genetic defects that stunted his growth and in part
crippled him led to Toulouse-Lautrec’s self-exile from the high soci-
ety his ancient aristocratic name entitled him
to enter. He became a denizen of the night
world of Paris, consorting with a tawdry
population of entertainers, prostitutes, and
other social outcasts. He reveled in the en-
ergy of cheap music halls, cafés, and bordel-
los.At the Moulin Rouge (FIG. 31-14) re-
veals the influences of Degas, of the Japanese
print, and of photography in the oblique and
asymmetrical composition, the spatial diago-
nals, and the strong line patterns with added
dissonant colors. But although Toulouse-
Lautrec closely studied such scenes in real life
and they were already familiar to viewers in
the work of the earlier Impressionists, he so
emphasized or exaggerated each element that31-14Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,
At the Moulin Rouge,1892–1895. Oil on canvas,
4 4 7 . Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
(Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection).
The influences of Degas, Japanese prints,
and photography show in this painting’s
oblique composition, but the glaring lighting,
masklike faces, and dissonant colors are
Toulouse-Lautrec’s.Post-Impressionism 8311 ft.
31-14A
TOULOUSE-
LAUTREC, Jane
Avril,1893.