Despite how radical and shocking Impressionism was perceived in its time, 150 years later it’s more likely to be seen as colorful, mainstream paintings.
But the avant-garde drawing practices that were fundamental to Impressionists and later, the Postimpressionists, laid the groundwork for what was to come. VMFA’s new print exhibit “Experimental Lines: Impressionist and Postimpressionist Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon” ably demonstrates how these new ways of drawing allowed artists to explore modern compositions, techniques, and subjects to further their artistry.
Drawing was considered the foundation of artistic education in the early 19th century. Draftsmanship emphasizing clarity and precision was essential for strong paintings and sculpture. By synthesizing the then-standard solid, neo-classical approach to line and reimagining it to capture the ephemeral conditions of their surroundings, these well-known artists had the freedom to be as experimental as they wished.
Although associated with Romanticism, an artistic movement that emphasized color over line, Eugene Delacroix was a prolific draftsman whose drawings proved that color and line weren’t mutually exclusive. Included in the exhibition is his watercolor “Narcissus,” presented as a botanical illustration of a scientific specimen.
But look more closely and it’s obvious Delacroix was intentionally coloring outside the lines. Despite his pencil outlines, the artist chose to reach beyond those outlines on some petals and leave areas of bare paper on others. In subverting the conventions of botanical illustration, Delacroix achieves a far more romantic expression of nature as well as a less conventional one.
By 1879, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was increasingly interested in drawing as basis of his artistic practice, telling a dealer friend that he’d reached the conclusion that he didn’t know how to either paint or draw. Returning to drawing as his root practice took his work in a more linear and classical direction, enabling him to develop new ideas and refine his technique.
In the black chalk work, “The Milliner,” Renoir poses his favorite model, Suzanne Valadon, as a preparatory sketch for the large-scale painting “The Umbrellas.” Although he ultimately depicted the milliner in a different position in the final painting, the drawing clearly gave him the chance to test out different compositional options.
Part of the reason the Impressionists scandalized the art world was their choice of subject matter. By turning to their own surroundings for inspiration (dance halls, racetracks, beaches) they depicted the leisure activities of the emerging bourgeoisie. Drawing was central to capturing these worlds and paper sketchbooks and drawing materials were easily transported to capture chance meetings and fleeting weather conditions.
As a frequent racetrack visitor, the prolific draftsman Edgar Degas had plenty of opportunities to study horses as well as jockeys, moving and at rest. Throughout the rest of his career, he created works related to horses and racing through paintings, sculpture, prints and drawings. Because it was seldom feasible to set up an easel at a racetrack, a sketchbook was key because it made it easy to capture whatever he was after in the moment.
Two of his drawings are included here, “Seated Jockey” and “Jockey Facing Left,” the latter a pastel. Degas was drawn to pastels because they allowed him to experiment with line and color at the same time, but also for sentimental reasons. The matte quality of the medium reminded him of frescoes he’d seen during a memorable trip to Italy as a young man.
Camille Pissarro was another artist fond of a pocket sketchbook and as an anarchist, sympathetic to workers’ struggles. Four of his drawings capture his observations of laborers near his home and they all emphasize the humanity of people doing essential work. Sketches like “Study of a Peasant Woman” and “Old Man Seated on a Bank” often became the basis for the figures Pissarro frequently included in his landscapes.
The graphite and watercolor “Large Pine Study” by Paul Cezanne hangs as a bold face reminder of the tension between finished and unfinished that’s seen in so much of the artist’s paintings. He chose to use watercolor and graphite, sketching in pencil before using watercolor to emphasize or suggest a larger area of color without completely delineating it. Pure Cezanne.
Thanks to the collecting habits of the Mellons, “Experimental Lines: Impressionist and Postimpressionist Drawings” also treats the viewer to drawings from such major figures as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Georges Seurat, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, Berthe Morisot, and Vincent van Gogh.
Looking at the dynamic sky of van Gogh’s “Marsh with Water Lilies, Etten,” done in pen and India ink over a graphite underdrawing, it’s hard to miss the foreshadowing of the exuberant expressionism of his later paintings.
Experimental as it may have been in the 19th century, the drawings of the Impressionist and Postimpressionists can be assessed with a much longer and more satisfying lens by viewers of the 21st century.
Think of “Experimental Lines” as a prequel to the blockbuster that was Impressionism. As their drawing went, so went their painting.
“Experimental Lines: Impressionist and Postimpressionist Drawings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon” through January 2025 at VMFA, 200 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard, vmfa.museum
