GENRE AND GENRE

    It's not unusual to hear the word "genre" tossed around by artistic types. I've heard it pronounced in several awkward ways. I prefer, as I was taught in college, to say it in the French manner. But what does it mean? I don't think most people know that there are two distinct meanings for this word.
    The common use for this word is when one is referring to a particular style or form of artistic endeavor. The second, less known meaning for genre is a painting style in which scenes from everyday life are depicted, usually in a realist style.

    Genre painting won my heart when I was an art student. So many art history classes were spent looking at portrait after portrait of religious figures, kings, generals, politicians, and their wives and mistresses. How refreshing it was to finally see images of everyday people. An early favorite as seen above, is Jean-Francois Millet's Woman Baking Bread, from 1854.

    As reluctant as I am about going on about French artists, the 19th century impressionists did advance this movement of genre painting. Above is Edouard Manet's Bar at the Folies Bergeres. I also admire the scenes of Edgar Degas' Portraits in an Office, and Auguste Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party.

    In 1885 Vincent Van Gogh did a stunningly raw portrait of very common folk in his The Potato Eaters.

    This genre painting influence can be seen in America with Winslow Homer, an example being his Gloucester Farm, from 1874. Painter Thomas Eakins was right alongside him with his Mending the Net, done in 1881.

    The 20th century standouts for me are Edward Hopper, as seen in his Automat, of 1927, and my all-time favorite influence, Robert Bechtle, as in Roses, painted in 1973.

    Two local proponents of genre painting and art are myself, as seen in the flagship painting at the top of this blog site, PDQ, and Sebastopol's Rik Olson, with his linocut depicting a grocery woman.

    An unforeseen twist is that the predominant instrument of genre art today is the smartphone! For better or worse, never before have the lives of common people been so visually documented and widely shared.