Discovering “Luminism”

https://cynnisblog.wordpress.com/2026/02/14/discovering-luminism/

"Sunset Over the Thames, London," Emile Claus, 1916.

Belgian artist Claus (1849-1924) plied several trades before taking up art; although he liked to draw as a child, his father sent him to be a baker's apprentice. Claus later worked for the railroads and as a flax salesman, but his heart was always on the canvas.

Eventually, he trained at the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts from 1869 to 1874, and very quickly became a prominent painter. He started off as a Realist but his growing friendship with Monet influenced him, and he added Impressionism to his style. In 1904 he started an artist's group called "Vie et Lumiere" (Life and Light) and their style became known as Luminism. He fled Belgium for London during WWI, but returned in 1918. He had one last exhibition but his work fell from favor as Expressionism came into vogue.

This landscape, painted during his WWI exile in London, is the subject of disagreement. Is it Impressionist or Luminist? It's a bit more representational than most Impressionists, and less colorful, but at the same time, the depiction of light is up their alley. In the end, it's quite a scene.

From the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.

#Art #EmileClaus #Impressionism #Luminism #Water #Thames

"Valley of the Yosemite," Albert Bierstadt, 1864.

Prussian-born Bierstadt (1830-1902) became one of America's most acclaimed artists for his visual chronicles of the American West, in a time before it was opened up by railways.

He studied painting in the Dusseldorf school, then joined the Hudson River School before taking his first journey west in 1859. From then on, he became famous for his paintings of the untouched frontiers to the west, most of which were fairly romanticized, but at the same time, he was trying to preserve an idea of what the land was like before the influx of travelers, as railroads were built.

He had a lot of commercial success, but after the Civil War ended, his work began to be viewed as overly theatrical, and by the 1890s he had fallen out of favor; a fire in his studio destroyed a number of his paintings as well. When he passed away he was nearly forgotten.

In the 1960s, though, he was rediscovered, & there's still some controversy...some still regard his work as "soulless" and overly theatrical and romantic, while others view his work as supporting the early conservation movement and the creation of the national park system. I kinda like the romanticism myself.

From the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

#Art #AlbertBierstadt #HudsonRIverSchool #Yosemite #Luminism #Landscape #ROmanticism

Fitz Henry Lane’s lithograph of Gloucester captures the harbor’s lively spirit and the interplay of light and water. This masterpiece reflects the deep maritime culture of the mid-19th century. What emotions does this scene evoke for you?

#FitzHenryLane #Luminism #GloucesterArt
https://clevelandart.org/art/2019.165

"A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove)," Sanford Robinson Gifford, 1862.

Gifford (1823-1880) was a leader of the second generation of the Hudson River School, and also a leading practitioner of the Luminism style, which focused on soft light effects.

Although he traveled extensively to find great landscapes to paint, his most effective work was often done close to his New York home, such as this picture of a real gorge in the Catskills (although it's really called Kaaterskill Clove...). In later years he considered this one of his "chief pictures."

Kaaterskill Clove was, and is, popular with hikers and artists, and even in the 19th century it was quite a tourist spot, with the town of Palenville trying to pass itself off as the home of Rip van Winkle!

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

#Art #AmericanArt #HudsonRiverSchool #Luminism #SanfordRobinsonGifford #KaaterskillClove

• 标题: Lake Lucerne
• 创作者: Albert Bierstadt
• 创作日期: 1858
• 实际尺寸: overall: 182.9 x 304.8 cm (72 x 120 in.) framed: 235.3 x 359.4 x 17.2 cm (92 5/8 x 141 1/2 x 6 3/4 in.)
• 材质: oil on canvas

https://art.yangzhi.org/324/

#Luminism #OilPaint #山

• 标题: The Narrows from Staten Island
• 创作者: Jasper Francis Cropsey
• 创作者寿命: 1823/1900
• 创作者国籍: American
• 创作者性别: male
• 创作者去世地点: Hastings-on-Hudson, New York
• 创作者出生地点: Rossville, New York
• 创作日期: 1868
• 实际尺寸: w183.2 x h106.7 cm
• 类型: paintings
• 权利: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Acquisition in memory of Richard Fargo Brown, Trustee, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 1961-1972
• 外部链接: Amon Carter Museum of American Art
• 材质: Oil on canvas

https://art.yangzhi.org/321/

#Luminism #河流