{"id":246,"date":"2015-12-03T15:35:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T15:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smilingmadamebeudet.sac.lsa.umich.edu\/?page_id=246"},"modified":"2015-12-03T15:35:31","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T15:35:31","slug":"french-impressionism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.lsa.umich.edu\/smilingmadamebeudet\/musicandarts\/french-impressionism\/","title":{"rendered":"French Impressionism in Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

The artistic movements of the 1920’s can be defined by “…the creation of works which blurred the barriers between artistic media and genres.” [1] Impressionism, specifically, aimed to intertwine artistic mediums that had similar underlying ideologies. Both Claude Debussy and Charles Baudelaire were prominent players\u00a0at the forefront of this movement. The relationship between the two runs\u00a0so deep,\u00a0Debussy explicitly\u00a0cites Baudelaire as an influence on his work.<\/p>\n

Below are the first two systems of Debussy’s musical setting to Baudelaire’s\u00a0La Mort des Amants<\/em>, the exact poem featured\u00a0in\u00a0The Smiling Madame Beudet<\/em>. The direct relationship between these two artists lends great insight into Dulac’s decision making for the art present in Madame Beudet’s household.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the piece here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Debussy’s interpretation of the poem has a dark tone, consistent with Baudelaire’s work, and similar to the overall tone of the film. Its slow moving, minor keyed melody is a sonic translation of the painful death the two lovers experience. Modern versions of The Smiling Madame Beudet<\/i>\u00a0are often accompanied by music. Debussy’s La Mort des Amants<\/i>\u00a0piece sounds strikingly similar to those that are currently used, and would be a smart choice to accompany the scene in which\u00a0Madame Beudet actually reads the poem.<\/p>\n

The Impressionist movement favored simple subjects, greatly differing from the majestic aesthetic of most preceding art movements. A focus on provincial and rural life, as opposed to the urban Paris, was a common theme found in Impressionist works, which further explains Madame Beudet’s investment in these particular artists.<\/p>\n

Ben Factor<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. L. Katherine Glaeser \u201cIntermedialists: Debussy and the influences of Whistler and Baudelaire\u201d, Collection Building, Vol. 33 Iss 1 pp. 21 \u2013 24<\/li>\n
  2. Antokoletz, Elliott, and Antokoletz, Juana Canabal. Musical Symbolism in the Operas \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 of Debussy and Bartok : Trauma, Gender, and the Unfolding of the \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Unconscious. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, 2004. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 27 October 2015.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The artistic movements of the 1920’s can be defined by “…the creation of works which blurred the barriers between artistic media and genres.” [1] Impressionism, specifically, aimed to intertwine artistic mediums that had similar underlying ideologies. Both Claude Debussy and Charles Baudelaire were prominent players\u00a0at the forefront of this movement. The relationship between the two … <\/p>\n

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