Boating and Late 19th Century Impressionism

Introduction and Thesis

    In the late 1800s, depictions of upper class leisure increased in popularity among French Impressionist painters. Among other factors, post-industrial modernity, demographic changes, and new tastes and preferences resulting from increased wealth made it such that leisure - as a pastime and an industry - was entirely reconstructed. Older, more rustic forms of recreation were reformed such that emphasis could be placed on vacationing and more civil varieties of entertainment. Among the various new recreations enjoyed by the upper class, boating developed particular popularity. Along with the rest of the upper class, artists developed a keen fondness for the recreation as well. Many French impressionists, such as Manet and Monet, even built complete studios on their boats to accommodate for their love of the pastime. Depictions of recreational boaters and popular boating destinations along the Seine, such as Argenteuil and Chatou, increased in number as Impressionism progressed as a movement. One could argue that these recreational depictions signified an important departure from the grandeur and structure of classical influence, but other movements, like Rococo and Romanticism, succeeded in departing from classical function before impressionism did. The difference with Impressionism - and the focus of this exhibit - was that it was capable of being more expressive of an artist’s individual interests considering the movement’s intention focused purely on capturing the moment. This exhibit intends to exemplify the fact that impressionists had the capability to capture their favorite pastimes, boating in this case, due to the post-industrial social climate and the momentary nature of their movement.

Edouard Manet, Boating (1874)

Oil on Canvas, 38 1/4 x 51 1/4 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

    At the time, Manet’s late work was criticized heavily for its frivolousness. As he progressed through his career, his work began to center around femininity and ease of life. Boating is a primary example of his early transition to this kind of subject matter. One could argue, however, that the pejorative nature of the term “frivolousness” completely neglects the intent and function of impressionism as a momentary tool. Manet painted scenes like this for a very simple and special reason: he enjoyed doing so.

Claude Monet, In the Norwegian (1887)

Oil on Canvas 38 1/2 x 51 1/2 in. Musée d’Orsay, Paris 

Depicted are Monet’s three stepdaughters fishing from a Norwegian style rowboat. The piece shows the accessibility of boating as an upper class pastime to all ages. All references to the world beyond this particular recreation are cut off by the piece’s composition, suggesting Monet didn’t care to depict anything apart from the purity of his own individual interest in that particular moment. The piece, like many other impressionist pieces at the time, exhibits flat and floating characteristics of Japanese prints which demonstrates the movement’s openness to individual flexibility and external influence. 

Mary Cassatt, The Boating Party (1894)

Oil on Canvas, 35 7/16 x 46 3/16 in. National Gallery of Art, DC

Cassatt’s The Boating Party presents a kind of antithesis to Manet’s Boating. The two pieces are similar in form and composition, but flipped in plane and mirrored, with the female figure and baby positioned as centerpiece instead of the male figure. In the 1890s, Cassatt spent a great deal of time on the Mediterranean coast where she experimented with bold palettes and new subject matter. Most of her pieces that depict boating come from these ventures to the coast, where it was a regular pastime among her and her acquaintances.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Oarsmen at Chatou (1879)

Oil on Canvas, 31 15/16 x 39 7/16 in. National Gallery of Art, DC

This piece, painted at one of Renoir’s favorite destinations along the Seine, suggests the popularity of boating at the time. The foreground depicts a clearly well-to-do couple engaging in some sort of friendly interaction with an oarsman, while the background depicts three other recreational boaters along with a commercial vessel and sailboat. Renoir’s artistic personality is so apparent in this piece - his well integrated use of impressionist technique makes it such that the figures fit seamlessly into the landscape. Renoir would vacation and paint in Chatou often, further adding to the fact that Impressionism was influenced by the post-industrial social climate.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Regatta at Argenteuil (1874)

Oil on Canvas, 12 3/4 x 18 in. National Gallery of Art, DC

Painted in Argenteuil, one of the more prominent destinations among impressionists in the late 1800s, this piece depicts the commune’s most revered event, the Argenteuil Regatta. Argenteuil was popular among upper class vacationers from Paris due to pleasant waterfronts and various recreational boating events and sailboat and steamboat races. The Regatta drew in large crowds from Paris and surrounding areas, and was a prime example of more civil means of entertainment in the late 1800s. The piece, and the significance of the commune itself, both exemplify the changing landscape of leisure in the 19th century. 

Eduoard Manet, The Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil, (1874)

Oil on Canvas, 24 1/2 x 40 1/2 in. Courtauld Gallery, London

Manet, like Renoir, spent a great deal of time in Argenteuil. Many of his late works come from the Paris suburb. Both he and other artists, such as Caillebotte and Monet, would often focus on the ubiquitous Parisian day trippers for subject matter. In The Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil two figures, a mother and a child, stand in front of an array of moored sailboats. This piece, much like Renoir’s Regatta at Argenteuil, further suggests the popularity of recreational boating and boating events in Argenteuil at the time.