Nicole

Timmerman

Frdric Bazille

I have learned a lot during my practice in visual art. Learning to draw and

paint is not as simple as doodling or marking a paper with pencil; it is a process of

focusing on something from reality and using precise strokes to duplicate it into a
true to life work of art. I have discovered that it is not just drawing, but visually
understanding proportions, angles, perspective, and many other factors of an object
in real life in order to put it on paper. When it comes to these factors, realistic value
of light is also a very important part to an accurate piece. As shadows and highlights
become darker and lighter, the contrast makes a visually stunning and interesting
impact on the viewer. An impressionist painter known as Frdric Bazille used this
contrasted method well and truly made his works shine with a realistic and pleasing
appearance. I am interested in the works of Bazille because of his techniques, his
works, and because he was part of a major movement in art history.

In my experience, I have found that making things look convincingly realistic

is a challenge that is always there, especially when it comes to light values and
proportions. Bazille was skilled at making them look visually correct, and I often
study his techniques. The background features in his outdoor scenes are washed
out, without much contrast to the background, to produce the illusion of distance.
However, in the foreground, features such as trees or people are brighter and more
contrasted to make them appear much closer to the viewer. A good example could
be Village View, a painting of Bazilles that depicts a young woman sitting on a
hillside with a view of the village behind her. Although the woman sits within a

shadow, the colors in the background are less contrasted, while those in the
foreground are more contrasted and more intense colors are used. The textures in
this painting are also realistic and, as a whole, the painting looks convincing. I find
that Bazilles technique in this painting uses a variety of different brush strokes to
produce the correct look, almost as though it were an actual photograph.

Frdric Bazille was not only a painter of outdoor scenery; like many other

impressionist painters, he dabbled in still-life painting as well. In paintings like

these, a background is not always necessary, as the emphasis resides within the
collection of inanimate objects the objects themselves often create their own
background. When it comes to still-life, Bazille seemed to focus much more on fine
detail to make an object look more and more real as he continued working. One of
my favorite paintings of his, titled Still Life with Fish, is just what the title states
two fish lay on a white-clothed block of wood, accompanied by a basket of oysters.
Its a simple painting with virtually no background, but the appearance of the still-
life as a whole is very interesting. The fish seem to glitter with vitality, despite that
they are not alive, with a reflection of yellowish light. The folds in the white cloth are
also quite pleasing to look at, and on the shadowed side of the block, there are
reflections in the cloths shadow of the brownish color of the block. Another feature
of this painting that is enjoyable is the texture of everything in it, especially the fish,
with their beveled, contrasting scales, and the basket with its handcrafted look.
Overall, the painting combines all of these factors into a wonderfully bright and
stunning piece. It is a very realistic looking painting by Bazille, and I feel more
inspired when I see this piece of art in particular.

When I see the paintings of impressionist painters like Bazille, I wonder why

anybody would decide that they are not fit for the world to enjoy, or why in the
world they arent enjoyable. For the impressionists, getting people to like their work
was a very difficult task in their time; 19th century France had rules to their fine arts,
which were broken by the group of impressionist painters. They wanted to combat
the standards set by the French academy of Fine Arts by painting in a new, different,
non-traditional way, which was both applauded and frowned upon by many.
Frdric Bazille was among them, a French painter who was friends with many
famous painters such as Monet and Renoir. His contribution and influence in the art
world, although maybe not quite as famous, seems to have been just as important in
the change. The impressionist revolution lasted about 20 years, from the 1860s to
the 1880s. It was not until late 19th century that the works were finally accepted.

People in that day and age saw art to be created with strict standards in

mind, not straying from the path, therefore painting in traditional manner only. I
think it is interesting that originality was not popular or common to the public, that
only methods of the most honored painters in history should be replicated in
paintings. Today, being capable of original work is seen as a wonderful and special
quality in people that are deemed talented or gifted, but back then it was somehow
disrespectful and dishonoring to wonderful artwork of the traditional past.

As for Bazille and his influence on my work, I have found that I am using

similar techniques to duplicate reality into drawings and sketches. Although I am

using some of his methods, I know that the work I do as an artist has its own special
look and is as unique as the paintings that Bazille made himself.

Works Cited:
http://www.biography.com/people/frdric-bazille-17164118
http://www.impressionism.info/info.html
http://www.impressionism.org/teachimpress/browse/aboutimpress.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bazille_View_of_the_Village.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederic_Bazille_-
_Still_life_with_fish_1866.jpg