Topic > Art History: From Classics to Impressionists

In modern art many paintings can be used to describe events, especially historical or cultural events. However, this essay will focus on specific events and how three different works of art, by three different artists, represent what is happening. We will be looking at the following artists and specific artworks from their portfolio. This essay will focus on the Impressionist movement and why the divide between the movement's artists and the Salon or Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris was so important. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Monet, Renoir, and some other artists who desired independence from the official annual Salon and its strict rules began their own movement, called Impressionism. And while there were people rejected by the Salon, this is one of the first times that a group of painters rejected the structure and rules of the Salon and started their own movement. United only by independence from the official Salon, they work together. The ideas and painting styles they had were considered radical at the time, as they violated the rules of academic painting. The techniques used by the Impressionists at the time were developed, specific to the style, and included a style or way of seeing immediacy, movement and candid poses, with a use of bright and varied colors common in Impressionist painting. Impressionism as a style, broke many of the academic rules during the 1870s and 1880s, because the academic rules favored the neoclassical and romantic styles. Academic art was art influenced by the standards of the French Academy, which created a new style based on the fusion of the Neoclassical and Romantic styles of the time. According to the glossary in our textbook, the neoclassical style is defined as “An art-historical term referring to styles from the 18th century onwards – and particularly architectural ones – that looked back to the styles of the classical period of ancient Greece and Rome .”, and the Romantic/Romanticism style is defined as: “Beginning in the late 18th century and continuing through much of the 19th century, this was a movement in music, literature, and the visual arts that enhanced the emotional capacity of 'humanity. ” (Arnason and Mansfield 762). The reason the early Impressionists were considered to break the rules of academic painting was that what they created were freely brushed colors that took over the standard of having grand lines and outlines, and painted realistic scenes of the modern life, often painted outdoors, and not in a studio somewhere They wanted and portrayed the visual effects that outdoor painting gave them, from sunlight and other sources, versus the details and brushstrokes that were. both mixed and pure unmixed colors, which was the opposite of what was usual. This is shown very well in the artwork chosen for this essay, especially in the one that gives this movement its name, Impression: Sunrise. by Monet, painted in 1872. Van Gogh's Wheatfield with Crows, painted in 1890, and Renoir's Girls at the Piano, painted in 1892, will be examined in even less detail, as to their significance for the Impressionist movement. Monet's Impression: Sunrise, which this essay will now refer to as Monet's painting, depicts rowboats at dawn with a rowboat and the sun as focal points, and other rowboats in the background. There is something else in the background of Monet's painting, which, according to Janis Tomlinson, "are not trees but smokestacks of cargo ships and steamers, while on the right in the distance other trees and smokestacks stand out against the sky." Which makes sense, since the paintingdepicts Port Le Havre at dawn, according to Paul Smith. The choices of style and color show a nebulous scene, which moved away from the traditions of the time, at least as regards landscape paintings and what was considered classical beauty. Stylistically, Smith states: "Impression, Sunrise was about Monet's search for spontaneous expression, but it was driven by defined and historically specific ideas about what spontaneous expression was." Color-wise, the canvas has a layered effect, with the base layer in different shades or tones of gray, and as further details, such as the sun hitting the water or other pieces of the painting line up , have been added with different colors. Gordon adds, regarding the blue-gray accents and glimmers of orange, “they are like last-minute revelations that had to wait, not only for the particular glimmer of orange to make its way through the fog and find its reflective path on the water and Monet's eye, but it is the canvas itself, pregnant with the foggy space outside, that is ready to receive it”. Van Gogh's painting, Wheatfield with Crows, believed to be one of his last works, although not confirmed by art historians, is a Van Gogh painting recreated from northern memories. Several critics cite this painting as one of his best works. The short brush strokes, the sections of unmixed paint, the difference in light levels in the evening sky and a simple subject, diverging roads in a cornfield and crows. This painting is the definition of an impressionist painting, however, what this painting conveys is "sadness, extreme loneliness". (VanGogh). The color contrasts between the blue sky, the yellow-orange wheat, the red of the path and the green bands of grass, cause this very vibrant effect in the painting. These paintings show what impressionist paintings were, stylistically, but not the importance of impressionism or the impact it had on the art world in the 19th and 20th centuries. Before the Impressionism movement began, artists who wanted to make a living had to follow the academic art styles described above. However, the Impressionist movement changed this. In the late 19th century, as society was changing and the industrial revolution was occurring, artists began to decide that they wanted to change the style accepted by many, particularly the salon. Their attention shifted from the classic themes of the time to scenes of everyday life and the world around them. This kind of challenge to the art world in France was important. An important example of direct influence is represented by some works by Van Gogh and other important painters. Van Gogh writes in one of his letters: “instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes, I use color in a more arbitrary way, to express myself forcefully”. Before the Impressionists, people could only use colors in specific ways, but the Impressionist movement allowed the use of colors in all kinds of manners, promoting artistic freedom, to a level never seen before. Francesco Salvi, Italian actor and architect, stated: “Impressionism is at the root of all modern art, because it was the first movement that managed to free itself from preconceived ideas, and because it changed not only the way in which life was represented, but also the way in which the way life was seen.” Impressionism is what made art today what it is. He freed art from the chains of traditions and norms. However, as liberating as the Impressionist movement was, traditions are important. Traditions that the impressionist movement did not follow. Miguel Caranti, a journalist for the Daily Princetonian, said: “This is not to say that innovation and,.