Luminism (American art style)

Luminism refers to a painting style which is especially interested in light and its effects. There are branches of modern luminism, including American luminism, Spanish luminism and so on. Luminists try to capture and represent the effect of light over a landscape. European luminists tend to follow the French impressionists, in particular Claude Monet, in the use of color and light but keep the tradition of line and drawing. Luminists often combine impressionist techniques with realism and plein air or outdoor painting. Luminism, however, can be a confusing term, because it is also applied to a variety of periods and techniques, some of which have very little in common. This has caused much criticism among experts. While luminism is applied to some Renaissance and baroque traditions, modern luminisim evolved during the nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Brief History

Many experts consider luminism to be a branch of the impressionist and neo-impressionist schools. Artists who practiced luminist techniques applied color in large strokes, in order to paint a scene through compact masses with marked constrasts of dark and light. As a painting technique, the strong contrasts between dark and light tends to be accomplished through creating points of light that create highlights over a darker background.

Impressionist luminism should not be confused with that of other periods, such as sixteenth century luminism. The latter is associated with the work of Michaelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio (1571–1610). Caravaggio pioneered the seventeenth century European "Caravaggisti," his followers in France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. Caravaggio famously used the chiaroscuro (strong contrasts of dark and light) to create dramatic effects of light in order to highlight his subject.

Among the most important European artists of modern luminism are Belgian printmaker and painter Emile Claus (1849–1924) and painter Joaquin Sorolla (1863–1923) from Spain. Influenced by the work of Claude Monet, Claus became one of the pioneers of modern luminism. Sorolla, one of the most prolific artists of the luminist style, left a catalog of over two thousand works after his death. Despite its roots in impressionism, the luminist style presents significant differences; for instance, luminists retained the importance of line and drawing, and attention to detail, which impressionists often rejected. Moreover, whereas impressionist artists usually placed great emphasis on brushstrokes, luminists practiced a more open and loose brushstroke.

American luminism is a form of landscape painting which surged between the years of 1850–1870. Its main characteristics were the aerial perspective, the treatment of light, and loose brush strokes; this school is more aligned with the pre-impressionist period. American landscape painters used luminism to emphasize tranquility, the reflection of light upon water, and a soft and misty atmosphere. In the United States, luminism evolved as a branch of the Hudson River school of painting. American luminists transcended the Hudson River school, which in turn predates the French impressionist school, so that the influence of the latter on American luminism is more limited than in Europe. Some prominent American artists identified as luminists are Fitz Henry Lane, George Caleb Bingham, John Frederick Kensett, Frederic Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt, Martin Johnson Heade, and Jasper Francis Cropsey.

Overview

Luminism is associated with several stylistic periods, most importantly the Renaissance, the baroque and impressionism. The baroque favored a highly artificial composition, and used luminism to emphasize stark contrasts of light and dark, such as that of tenebrism, in which extremely dark shadows crowd the foreground and subjects are theatrically highlighted, as if they were centerstage.

Modern luminism, on the other hand, is closer to nature, and follows the work of landscapists such as British J. M. W. Turner, and the French impressionists. An important branch of modern luminism was American luminism. Scholars often have trouble differentiating between the works of American luminism and the associated Hudson River school. In general, however, the Hudson River school preferred large canvases that added to the grandeur of their panoramic style, while the luminist tradition created works that are smaller in size and tried to emphasize transcendence in more understated ways. In fact, some experts find that American luminists may have been more inspired by the Dutch tradition, with its emphasis of intimacy and quiet, than the impressionist school of the late nineteenth century. Luminists did keep, however, the preference for horizontal panoramic extensions typical of the Hudson River school.

Other art experts associate modern luminism with a classical aesthetic, although the American version sought to differentiate itself from European landscape schools and develop a uniquely American style. As in other art periods, luminism responded to social and cultural pressures. Besides seeking to avoid what some artists considered corruptions of European civilization, luminism represented the ambivalent concern with threats posed by industrial progress to virgin nature. The American luminist school also rose in tandem with the popularization of the works of Edmund Burke, an eighteenth century philosopher who articulated a concept of the sublime, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, a nineteenth century American writer who spearheaded the American transcendentalist movement. Both movements emphasized spirituality and an understanding of nature that goes beyond reason and acts through the senses.

Luminist painters sought to paint with brushstrokes so wide, the stroke becomes indistinct, while producing details emphasizing the action of light on a surface, creating for the viewer a sense of a transcendent and contemplative state. On a smaller scale than the Hudson River school painters, luminists aimed to engage the viewer by erasing the separation between viewer and object and making the spectator feel that he or she is actually in the painting rather than outside of it. Luminist compositions often replicate the vastness of nature on a smaller scale, and as in the larger panoramas of traditional American landscapists, human subjects, when they appear, are dwarfed by the surrounding nature.

Luminism was never as popular among the public as the Hudson River school and other romantic landscape movements worldwide. In fact, some prominent critics of the era dismissed luminism, not considering it to be high art. However, some luminist artists enjoyed brisk sales, which suggests that it was enjoyed by a significant portion of the public.

Bibliography

Adams, Laurie Schneider. 19th-Century Art: A Beginner’s Guide. London: OneWorld, 2014. Print.

Ankele, Daniel, Denise Ankele, and Albert Bierstadt. Albert Bierstadt: 325 Hudson River School Paintings. Luminism and Realism. Ankele, 2013. Kindle file.

Benay, Erin. "Caravaggio and Caravaggisti in 17th-Century Europe." Oxford Art Online, 2007–2015. Web. 21 May 21 2015.

Chilvers, Ian. The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.

Craig, James. Fitz H. Lane: An Artist’s Voyage through Nineteenth-Century America. Stroud: The History Press, 2013. Print.

Eisenman, Stephen F., Thomas Crow, Brian Lukacher, Linda Nochlin, David Llewellyn Phillips, and Frances K. Pohl. Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History. London: Thames, 2011. Print.

McIntyre, Robert George. Martin Johnson Heade, 1819–1904. Whitefish: Literary Licensing, 2013. Print.

Novak, Barbara. Nature and Culture: American Landscape and Painting, 1825–1875. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.

Pons-Sorolla, Blanca; Mark A. Roglan. Sorolla in America. Madrid: Ediciones El Viso America, 2014. Print.

Wilmerding, John. American Light: The Luminist Movement, 1850–1875. New Jersey: Princeton UP, 1989. Print.