Impressionism Essays

Lovett, my art history professor, a true inspiration, opened my eyes to a whole new world of rich ancient history, culture, and expression. From the beginning of time, art was utilized as a medium to tell a story, and ever since, society has turned to different medias of art- sculpture, print, conceptual performance, installations, drawings, oil on canvas, and paintings- to reflect on the current situation and express themselves. For instance, a chaotic era of war reflected in Weary Herakles, a bronze Greek Late Classical sculpture (Peloponnesian wars), the politically rebellious bravado evident in Goya’s Third of May, Romantic prints, or in Delacroix’s Lady Liberty the People, and even the religious power struggle between the Protestants and Catholics, apparent in the exuberance of Giacomo de la Porta’s Il Gesu, a Baroque Catholic church, or in Lucas Cranach’s Allegory of Law and Grace, a Northern Renaissance metal print. My greatest accomplishment in this class was designing an art exhibition featuring works from ancient to modern times, all linked by one common theme, Rebels in the History of Art. The gallery contained revolutionary works such as Giotto’s Arena Chapel, Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and Three Daughters, Manet’s Olympia, Duchamp’s Fountain, Monet’s Saint Lazare Station , Kandisky’s Improvisation 28, and other groundbreaking works. Moreover, the story behind each artwork has motivated me to further explore the art world in college as I intend to not only pursue

Impressionism, in contrast, strove not to capture the toils of society in a moralistic setting like Realism did, but to evoke a general mood in the viewer. Painting was transformed from the idea of capturing a moment on canvas to creating a moment on canvas; painting was reduced to its own surface, “no longer transparent means but opaque ends” (Schneider 43). This was exemplified by Manet’s own ideas of painting not as “sight” but as “insight” into the human condition, driven by an artist’s intuition. Manet and the impressionists began painting en plein air, outdoors in the fresh air where they were closer to their subjects and captured the light of fleeting moments like sunrises and sunsets with quick brushstrokes intended to evoke general mood in the viewer based on the capture of light and tones in the painting, leading to the namesake “impression” left by the movement.

-In the 1700’s a new middle class emerged. Mass print became a thing as well. Every day people started to purchase art works to display in their homes. It was a way for them to express their status and national patriotism. The diversity in patrons had a great impact on the arts of the 15th – 18th centuries. With new patrons and the demand for art work, artists were able to capture more than just religious scenes. They were able to create landscapes and everyday life in their work. Artists were commissioned by the new middle class to create art work that they were able to hang in their houses. For instance, artist Joseph Wright of Derby’s painting “A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrey (1765).”

Impressionism can be considered the first distinctly modern movement in painting. Developing in Paris in the 1860s, its influence spread throughout Europe and eventually the United States. Impressionism was a style of representational art that did not necessarily rely on realistic depictions. The Impressionists loosened their brushwork and lightened their palettes to include pure, intense colors.

Art by its nature is a subject of the philosophical, social, economic, political or religious context surrounding its creator. More often than not, a work of art addresses a specific topic or somewhat revolves around a particular person. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the context of a piece of painting, either historical or cultural, to its intrinsic value or the artwork's meaning. On the other hand, different cultures and time utilized specific conventions that govern the representation of objects of creativity. This essay highlights various pieces of art and their relationship to particular cultural, political, economic, or social settings. Moreover, it pinpoints how different times influence art presentation.

The shift from Realism to Impressionism in the 19th century represented not only a change in form, but it also represented a shift in ideology. As one of our module videos notes, rather than focusing on accuracy and clarity, Impressionism emphasized “what the mind and the eye sees” and the “impression of light and color.” We will briefly discuss how the differences in the approaches of the Realists and the Impressionists had interesting implications for arts and how these ideologies can be applied to the ways in which believers and unbelievers interpret art.

Claude Monet was the leader of impressionist painting movement. Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Alfred Sisley, gave art the ability to

One hundred and fifty years ago, Paris was the center of art culture in France. Back then, every artist had one goal: get into the Salon, which was a gallery for all the greatest art within France. There was one problem, the Salon forced artists to conform to what the Salon believed was real art (i.e. young men at war and fair maidens under trees). The artists were forced to become the little fish in the big pond. It got to the point where some artists got sick of conforming and decided to create there own Salon with paintings that probably wouldn’t have made it into the Salon.

Doss, E. (2002, April). Oxford History of Art: Twentieth-Century American Art. Cary, NC, USA: OUP Oxford. Retrieved from ebrary, 289

On September 4, 2016, I visited the Matisse in His Time exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. This exhibit is home to a plethora of pieces by many different European artists from the 19th and 20th centuries. While it is focused on Matisse and his extensive works, containing more than 50 of his pieces, there are many portraits and sculptures by other influential artists from that time period including Renoir, Picasso, and Georges Braque. Three of the most appealing works that I encountered in this exhibit are Maurice de Vlaminck’s Portrait of Père Bouju, Pablo Picasso’s Reclining Woman on a Blue Divan, and Henri Matisse’s sculpture series Henriette I, Henriette II, and Henriette III.

Art has been part of our society since humanity existed. For countless years’ people been creating, observing, criticizing and appreciating art. Claude Monet’s piece titled Sunrise (Marine) illustrates the daylight in the industrial port of Le Havre of the north coast, France. This piece was made in March or April of 1873. The piece’s present location is the J. Paul Getty Museum, west pavilion, gallery w204. The medium is oil on canvas and is next to another piece made by Monet called The Portal of Rouen Cathedral in the morning light. Claude Monet was part of the impressionist movement that changes French paintings of the nineteenth century. For Sunrise (1872), people criticized the paint due to the appearance of an unfinished painting,

Modernism is an art movement that is characterized by a deliberate departure from tradition to a more expressive form that distinguishes many styles in the arts and literature of the late nineteenth and twentieth century. Emile Bernard was part of this modern art movement as can be seen in his painting, "Breton Woman and Haystacks", painted around 1888. Impressionists were modern artists who tended to paint outside landscapes and street scenes and were concerned with the effects of light. Bernard was a Post-Impressionist artist who considered Impressionism too casual or too naturalistic, and sought a means of exploring emotion in paint. Bernard's work, "Breton Woman and Haystacks", depicts a woman in

Impressionism as an historical art period is best described as a shift in thinking and focus. This paradigm shift, away from realism and toward individualism, began a centuries long transformation of self-expression in art as a whole. Impressionism is generally considered a French movement and is typically defined as spanning from approximately 1867 to 1886. Impressionism is best embodied by and was perhaps initiated by Claud Monet in such world-renowned works as Impressions: soleil levant which lent its name to the style and subsequently the art period as a whole.

Throughout the vast history of art, historians can find connections throughout the centuries. Artists from the beginning of humankind have been inspired by the world around them. From the Apollo 11 stones to present day, history and culture have provided inspiration and have been the focus of various pieces. Examining artwork from the 15th-18th century, viewers can be shown a whole world that would be unknown to us without these artist’s contributions. History, religion, and cultural events have sculpted the art world, and we can observe this through many pieces during the 15th-18th centuries.

     Impressionism began during the 19th century. An example of an artist’s beliefs influencing his art can be seen in the works of Pierre Auguste Renoir. It is documented that he felt that art should be different from the real world, which can be cold and harsh. He said, “Why shouldn’t art be pretty?” and “There are enough unpleasant things in the world.” An example of his attitude towards art can be seen in ‘A Girl with a Watering Can’ from 1876. This picture can easily be interpreted as being beautiful and therefore it proves that his belief of art is true. ‘Dance at Bougival’ from 1883, is yet another example of the artist and the inspiration for the art. By painting an attractive scene with two people dancing accompanied by laughing faces in the background we see a correlation between his quotes above and this piece. Therefore, one can conclude that Renoir painted mostly beautiful and attractive art.