In all honesty, Impressionism is far from forgetful. Impressionism is the technique of showing the world or anything in a different way. Impressionists art was not clearly defined by lines, nor were the art pieces free of brush stroke lines. In fact Impressionists went against what the Academy taught and instead focused on shedding a different kind of light on what people saw. The art during the Impressionism era was created with a lack of clear definition of detail, as well as colors that blended with each other compatibly even if they were completely different colors. Doing this sometimes the artist would highlight the foreground by making whatever was in the foreground 3-D and the background flat looking.
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| By the Sea by Renoir |
Monet and Renoir were two Impressionists during the time. they were "rejected for not painting bloodied corpses in ruined boulevards" (p 121). However, in today's time both Monet and Renoir are very famous for their works of art because there art was different and went against the norms of how art was in that day and age. Impressionism is far from "forgetful" in relation to artistic technique and tradition. I mean yes, Impressionism was not the typical way to create art. Yet, Impressionism created a new way to display are and create art and be able to get across a message. In a way though Impressionism was not clearly defined by detail or lines and definition, sometimes when looking deeper into a painting one will notice little clues to what a painting could be about, and that is a way Impressionism leaves an everlasting mark.
Renoir's painting (shown above) depicts a woman by the sea. However, like Impressionist paintings, the background is flattened behind the foreground. The colors as well in the background have been blended together and look almost like a backdrop behind the woman. As for the woman in the foreground, one can see that there are still no set lines within her figure or the chair leaving very little definition besides the colors that compose her. This was how Impressionist paintings were. And just like that, looking into her eyes and at how the woman and the almost backdrop looking background, one could see what the painting means, and therefore the painting could leave an impression on them.
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| Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh |
With color Impressionism takes a lead in standing out and being remembered. Typical paintings displayed what the artist saw and tried to accurately recreate the piece that the artist is focusing on. However, with Impressionism he color could be skewed in a way to depict a certain mood or even a message. The art work for impressionism could be seen as more symbolic with how colors were made to make a mark on the viewer. Say the painting that you were looking at is the one above. The colors and brightness of the landscape is beautiful and gives off a happier feeling, like one is content with life. Though the larger figure in front is dark and somewhat chaos looking, it is the sky and the brightness that can pull the viewer away from the chaos and bring the viewer to feel content.
Though Impressionism was rejected by many, it still stood strong. Impressionism i a type of art that could not, can not, and will not be forgotten because it paved a way for what art could become. The art was meant to leave an impression on the viewer when looking at the painting. That is way it will not be forgotten because every person that has seen an Impressionist painting, that painting has left an impression on them never letting them forget it.
In a sense, Impressionists are still interested in depicting the "here-and-now" subject matter of their time, right? One could argue that the historical paintings of the Academy are more "forgetful" and irrelevant than the subject matter of the Impressionists.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to note, though, how the Impressionists intentionally changed the composition of their paintings in order to not acknowledge the war and destruction of the Commune. I particularly like the example in our book of Monet's painting "The Tuileries" (p. 123) which highlighs on capturing the gardens of the palace. Monet intentionally had his painting "forget" the destruction of the palace which recently took place, which is very different from a contemporary artist Meissonier (p. 118).
-Prof. Bowen
I really like how you put in your two cents. I agree with you when you said "Though Impressionism was rejected by many, it still stood strong. Impressionism i a type of art that could not, can not, and will not be forgotten because it paved a way for what art could become." I think this is a very significant point you have brought up. It is very important to acknowledge that Impressionism was very influential and changed the art world in a very drastic way. I also like how you made the connection between the art word impression with "leaving an impression" on the viewer. I guess this style was impressionistic in every way!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post, it was also nice that you wrote on this subject. One thing I've noticed that you illustrated was that most people always seem to try and reject some kind of new and innovative artistic idea, since it goes against the normal values people are already accustomed to.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the argument you posed in support of impressionism. I feel that it was a shame that at the time impressionism was being produced it was largely met with mockery and rejection because of its avant-gardism motives. I really like impressionism personally and Monet is one of my favorite artists. It is kind of funny to me how people of his time labeled Monet's work unfinished or sketch-like, which sort of seemed like other did not take Monet's work seriously. However, he devoted so much attention and concentration on really capturing a moment in time. He painted numerous hay stack paintings just to play with the different colors of day and season. Monet was a really devoted artist.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the impressionist artists were painting to forget the remnants of the war that ravished through paris? They made odd compositions so that people blocked things that made people remember what had happened, like the statues of napoleon or destruction. what do you think about that way of forgetful? I like how they still painted what was there, and just slightly modified it, instead of just painting things that didnt exist in order to completely reject what was going on.
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