Johan Jongkind | 1848 - 1881 | Proto-Impressionist

Описание: Johan Jongkind was a Dutch painter considered a fore-runner to the Impressionists.

Jongkind was born in 1819 in Lattrop in the Netherlands. He went to art school in Den Haag. In 1845 he met the Parisian painter Eugène Isabey who was travelling in the Netherlands. In 1846 at the age of 26 he moved to Paris, to continue his studies in Isabey’s studio. Here he would meet members of the Barbizon school, such as Gustave Courbet and Constant Troyon. During this period Jongkind had work accepted for the Salon and received some critical acclaim. He returned to the Netherlands between 1855 until 1860. In 1862, in Honfleur, the Normandy port where many of the Impressionists painted, he met Eugène Boudin and his young protege Claude Monet. Monet would later say of Jongkind that, “he completed the definitive education of my eye”. In 1863 he exhibited at the Salon des Refusés with many other artists of the Barbizon school and Impressionists. However he declined to exhibit at the first Impressionist group exhibition in 1874. From 1878 Jongkind lived in a quiet village in the east of France. During this period, demand for his paintings grew, reaching higher prices, and he was recognised by the young Impressionists as a major influence. He died there aged 71 in 1891.

At art school Jongkind was trained in the Dutch tradition of naturalistic landscape painting. Low horizons give prominence to big skies. This is seen in his work right through his career. But even from the mid-1850s there is something in his work that can be recognised as Impressionist in style. Although his paintings share something of the spirit of the later impressionists, his working style was a little different. He would make watercolour sketches of outdoor scenes before returning to his studio to complete more detailed oil paintings, whereas Impressionist artists such as Pissarro and Monet would attempt to complete works outdoors and in one sitting. Jongkind became particularly noted for his moonlight scenes, as well as scenes of boats and harbours, giving him the chance to paint those big skies.

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