Derail stayed in London for bout two months, painting about thirty pictures. All of these paintings depict activity on or around the Thames, the wide river flowing directly through the heart of the city that was (and still is) both a tourist attraction and an essential part of Loon’s industry, Derail set up his easel outdoors, and painted what was directly in Toronto of him. Nineteenth-century London underwent a huge growth in population following industrial developments, especially the building of the railways, beginning with the 1836 London and Greenwich line.
Loon’s population rose from about en million in 1800 to over six million a century later, Grand new architectural projects had been built in the city center, including several bridges over the River Thames, such as London Bridge, depicted in this painting In 1905, the year before Derail painted this image, London Bridge had been widened to accommodate pedestrians. Despite Loon’s intense activity, Derail sought to create images Of calm and tranquility. That same year, he wrote a letter to Matisse, which said: sincerely believe that we ought to aim for calm. This calm is something of which we can be certain. Beauty, then, ought to be an aspiration towards his calm. I–And© Derail, January 1906, quote in Judi Freeman, The Fauve Landscape (Los Angels: Los Angels County Museum of Art, 1990), 85. ] How do you think Derail evokes the “calm” he was aiming for? Now that you know more about London during this time, comment on the aspects of the city Derail chose to focus on. How do you think his choice of material, subject, and composition reflect his attitude to this modern city?
Give examples from the work to support your ideas. Street, Dressed, painted by Ernst Ludwig Kerchief in his studio, is based on the artist’s memories of walking about the city. In contrast, Derail painted London Bridge in the open air, setting up his easel along the banks of the river. Analyze these differences in approach and how they might affect the making of a work of Imagine that you are part Of the scene depicted in Cheerer’s Street, Dressed. Describe what might be like to walk along that street.
Compare and contrast Street, Dressed With Drain’s London Bridge. Use visual evidence to support your ideas. Make a list of ten sounds that you might associate with the scene in Street, Dressed. Look closely at all the areas of the painting, Compare the sounds you associate with Cheerer’s painting with those you might associate with Drain’s painting. What are the main differences? At the time this was painted, Ernst Ludwig Kerchief was twenty-eight years old and living in Dressed, a large city in southeast Germany.
His studio, a former butchers shop, was the meeting point for the artist’s group the BRBјeke, formed in 1905, officio he was a founding member. In a letter to fellow painter Erich Heckle, he wrote of the Dressed crowds: Completely strange faces pop up as interesting points through the crowd. I am carried along with the current, lacking will. To move becomes an unacceptable effort. [Ernst Ludwig Kerchief, quoted in Sherwin Simmons, “Ernst Cheerer’s Streetwalkers: Art, Luxury, and Immorality in Berlin, 1313-1916,” in Art Bulletin, 82, no. (March 2000), 123. ] During the nineteenth century, Dresser’s population quadrupled from 95,000 in 1849 to nearly 400,000 in 1900 as a result a boom in industry, especially food processing and the production of medical equipotent. Ay the time this picture was painted, Dressed had over 500,000 inhabitants. The scene depicted in Street, Dressed is the fashionable K¶magistrates (King Street), where wealthy inhabitants .NET to shop and to socialize. How does Kerchief express his opinion of the city in this painting? Give examples.
Compare the choices that Kerchief and Derail made when painting the modern city. Using evidence from each painting, discuss the artists’ use of color, composition, and setting, and analyze their attitude to the city. How do the different places in which Kerchief and Derail executed their paintings seem to have impacted their work? NOW examine the photograph Paris, Avenue del Bois De Belong, by Jacques- Henry Laureate. What might be happening? Describe the scene. Compare this photograph to Drain’s London Bridge and Cheerer’s Street, Dressed.
What are some of the similarities and differences ebb,even the three works? How does Largess’s attitude to the city differ from that of Derail and Kerchief? This photograph, taken in 1911 by Jacques-Henry Laureate, depicts a pair of fashionable ladies walking along the Avenue du Bois De Belong, a tree-lined avenue in Paris. Laureate began to photograph at the age of seven, and was only seventeen years old when he took this picture. Throughout his career, he photographed daily life in Paris, often focusing on the leisure activities of the per-middle classes, officio he was a member.
Although Largess’s work seems lighthearted and informal, and was intended for his own and his families amusement, it tells us a great deal about the changes taking place in Europe during the early twentieth century, ACTIVITIES Looking at London (Image One) Have students research one of Drain’s other London paintings, using a map of London to pinpoint the view and analyzing Drain’s choice Of setting and use Of color. Why do you think he chose a particular scene? What impression of London does it give? List few sites for this activity For Drain’s London paintings, see:
Houses of Parliament at Night London: SST Pall’s Cathedral Seen from the Thames The Pool of London Poor old photographs of London, see: http://’. N,-v’. “. Y. Images-of-London. Co. UK/ For a map of London, see: http://www. Map-of-London. Co. UK/map. HTML The artist Claude Monet also visited London several times, between 1870 and 1904. Research Motet’s scenes of London and compare and contrast them with Drain’s. Do you see any differences between them? What do you think is the difference between the two artists’ attitudes to the city? How do they convey their attitudes? For Motet’s London paintings, see:
Houses tot Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog The Thames below Westminster Think about which scenes of your hometown you would depict if you were trying to give a sense of it to someone who had never been there, Why would you use those particular scenes? What impression of the place are you trying to give? A Letter from Dressed (Image TWO) Research the history, geography, and city plan Of Dressed. Imagine you are living in Dressed during the time Kerchief painted Street, Dressed. Now write a letter to a friend or family member describing your experience Of the city, based on the painting and your research.
Houseman’s Paris (Image Three) Between 1850 and 1870, following periods of revolution, the streets of Paris were transformed by town planner Baron Georges Houseman. Many of the densely crowded and winding streets were destroyed to make way for broad avenues that eradicated overcrowding, created better traffic circulation, and improved the government’s chances at quelling utter uprisings. Have your students research the changes in Paris between 1850 and 1870, making note of the city’s layout before and after Houseman’s design. What effect might these changes have had on the citizens?
Imagine that you are living n Paris during this period. Name five positive and five negative impacts that the new town planning might have had on daily life. GROVE ART ONLINE: Suggested Reading Below is a list of selected articles which provide more information on the specific topics discussed in this lesson. Andre Derail, Early period, Fauvist works and historicism Industrial Scenes, Depictions Of Industrial Landscape Fauvism, Historical influences and development from c. 1900 Ernst Kerchief, Life and work, Early life and Die BRBјeke, up to c-1913 Jacques-Henry Laureate urban Life, Modern City
