The Impressionists Essay Assignment.
Impressionism and post-impressionism relate to art movements that were influential in 19th century. Both movements originated in France and were used by such influential artists as C.
Monet and G. Seurat. Notably, artists associated with impressionism rejected the idea of state-
manipulated academics in favor of independent exhibitions. Such a move was certainly in line
with a general lack of interest in mythological theme matter – a widespread characteristic related
to impressionism and post-impressionism. Indeed, these movements saw artists work on
contemporary landscapes as well as scenes associated with modern life including recreation and
bourgeois leisure (Miller, 2009).
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In sum, work of art made during these movements showed
freedom in artists’ efforts to express himself. Artists were no longer required to come up with
works portraying historical and legendary tale as their inspiration. Rather, they were interested
capturing transient moments thus paid great attention to effects of movement, color, and light. The Impressionists Essay Assignment.
C. Monet’s work makes him a perfect impressionism as evidenced through Gare Saint-
Lazare (1877). The style of painting in this work reveals close association with natural light.
More so, it focuses on the light revealed in the shadows making the image appear to have natural
light in the background. In essence, light is used to show its effects on the landscape and
ultimately Monet’s piece of artwork (Ollis et al, 2004). This evidences the impressionists’
fascination with outdoor painting as they were inspired by the modernization of Paris. The Impressionists Essay Assignment.On the
other hand, post-impressionist Seurat’s use of light is rather balanced because it blends
seamlessly with objects depicted in the artwork. The vibrant nature of the work is underlined
through use of light in which the magnificence of natural light (sun) bathes the objects in a
celestial glow. In Seurat’s work, light is used to reveal the point at which the light comes into contact with objects including people. For instance, the tree line depicted towards the top of
Seurat’s painting evidences the bended effect. The Impressionists Essay Assignment.
Also, the piece of art utilizes fascinating color combinations and colors viewers would
not expect to see placed together. The idea is purely impressionist and is visible throughout the
painting – particularly in the ground as well as the ceiling of the depicted image. On the surface,
the ceiling appears mossy green but closer inspection reveals shades of blues, reds and browns.
Brushwork in this piece of art is used to emphasize the objects inside it including the train (hints
of red) to attract viewers –thus color becoming subject. In contrast, Seurat’s work employs the
blending technique making it almost impossible to tell the point (s) at which he stopped using
particular colors (Herbert et al, 2004). In essence, the painter uses shadows to emphasize certain
colors in the painting. The women in the center of his painting, for instance, appear to cast a blue
shade on the ground. However, unlike Monet’s work, the shadow is defined by a blend of the
colors.
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Ultimately, the mix of green presents a blue shadow.
In addition, brushwork in the painting is not smooth as Monet applies an impasto
technique (thick application of paint) leaving the surface quite rough. Worth noting is that
Monet’s realism ideas adds spontaneity in this painting making it seem the artist painted what is
around him at the time. The Impressionists Essay Assignment.Seurat, like Monet, also uses a more rigorous order of brushwork leaving
the piece of work rough meaning that it becomes a subject on its own. Altogether, one can say
that it ends up animating the objects (for instance people) in the painting and making them
subjects. The Impressionists Essay Assignment.
References
Herbert, R. L. et al. (2004). Seurat: and the making of La Grande Jatte. USA: Art Institute of
Chicago.
Miller, E. (2009). Masterpieces of Impressionist and post-Impressionist. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Ollis, D. F. et al. (2004). Liberal education in 21 st century engineering. New York: Peter Lang
Publishing. The Impressionists Essay Assignment.