Impressionism and Post Impressionism late 1800's-1900

Water Lilies, Claude Monet, Impressionism

      Impressionism, coined by a critic in the 19th century, was introduced by a group of artists based out of Paris. This style was used to capture an image as someone would see if they had just glimpsed at the scene. The characteristics include visible brush strokes and bright colors, usually depicting movement and the passing of time with light. The bold and unblended strokes produce a feeling of vibration.
     Artists were now bringing their easel outside. The artists believed that they could capture moods and lighting correctly by "en plein air", or, by painting in open air. Most impressionism paintings are of landscapes and common human subjects. Many artists used candid poses and scenes changing the way many viewed art. This painting to the left, part of a series of paintings, Water Lilies by Claude Monet, uses very large brush strokes and very little natural detail of the subject matter. These paintings, which are enormous in size this one 78"x79", and one mural is measured at 78"x502", are a long shot from what we looked at during the Renaissance and Baroque period. Interestingly, Monet was said to have been suffering from cataracts during the creation of this series. The blurriness of the painting could have very well been all of the detail Monet was capable of copying at the time.

Still Life With Profile, Paul Gauguin, Post-Impressionism

     Post-impressionism, impressionism evolved, uses different techniques and rejects the usual limitations in impressionism. Instead, there was a focus on geometric shapes, unnatural colors, and distortion to create an emotional response. During this period, pointillism, and other painting methods that reduced subjects down to simple shapes and colors was popular. The painting on the right, Still Life With Profile, by Paul Gauguin, uses pure colors, red and green with very little shading. You can also see the strong line of the mangoes. Heavy brush strokes can be seen on the wall behind the set and on the face. The table cloth has very minimal detail to capture the folds and shadows.
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