Romanticism: Impressionism versus Realist
Introduction:
The Romanticism era was during the 1800s. Many things were happening in this period, and things were changing quickly. There were more jobs and cities, and change was happening fast. Populations grew and so did the government. Socialism and communism started. There was also more transportation for cargo and people, so they could access more land "untouched by man." During this era, art began evolving quickly as well. This is when art stopped being categorized into two styles. We call the 1800s the romantic era, but it includes more than that. Romantic, realist, naturalist, nationalist, impressionist, and post-impressionist are all examples of these new categories. In this blog, I am only talking about the realist and impressionist categories. We will look at four paintings. Two from each category with all different artists. Let's dive in.
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Compare and Contrast:
Realist painters evolved and formed a group. They called themselves, the pre-raphelites. They thought the only good art was anything made and done before the Renaissance. Specifically before Raphael. They wanted to bring back an older style of painting from the past, but change it by "making it new." Looking at this art style, the women stand out the most. They paid close attention to detail and made the women look more realistic. As time went on, they changed from painting common events to painting things like classical mythology, Bible stories, and nature.
Impressionism comes in as things start picking up. People believe this is where art "really" begins. The style of art left the modern roles of painting, journalism and storytelling, in the past. Starting in Paris the style spread. Through time, the way an artist worked on the painting was said to be more important than the actual content. Unlike the realist, this style was not looking back at history or looking at the past. Instead, they painted in the "now." Realist paintings look and focus on detail as I mentioned before, while impressionism focuses on messier paintings which have loose strokes lines, and random dabs of color.
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"Liberty Leading the People":
"Liberty Leading the People" is a piece made by Eugene Delacroix in France. He released it in the1830s. In the painting, you see a bare-breasted and footed woman standing on a pile of corpses. She's holding a flag while a group of people stand behind her. The lady in the painting is known to be a symbol of France and the French Republic. Eugene is a painter from the realist category, meaning emotion! He tried to make the audience feel emotion. He also used bold colors to achieve that emotional sense. When I look at this painting, even though it is from my least favorite romantic era category, and this painting is not my favorite, I still look at it from time to time. The bland and brown colors remind me of dirt, earth, and some weird way, death. The blues seem to remind me of a sad time as well. The clouds in the back also do that for me. I personally dislike this painting because of it. Space is used well in this piece. It has a negative fill on the bottom with the dead bodies and a positive fill in the middle with the people cheering. The flag is painted in such a way I see form in it. It's blowing in the wind, making it flap in the wind. The way Eugene put this all together, made it almost interesting.
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"Wanderer Above Sea Fog":
"Wanderer Above Sea Fog" is another realist painting. Caspar David Frederick painted this in 1818. In this painting, you see a man, a hiker maybe, standing on some rocks that look to be a cliff. He's looking down at the clouds, trees, and other rocks. It is said to have the meaning of self-reflection or contemplation of one's path in life. l\Like the last painting, it is a realist piece. Meaning it represents emotion. It's also a nature piece, which is also sometimes represented in realist pieces. The way the man is intently watching and looking out gives me a sense of confusion. "Where does he go next?" "What is he thinking?" I don't like how this piece leaves me questioning. This piece is also kind of bland. It's got such potential to have bright colors. It's disappointing how grey and brown it is. It gives me a weird feeling I can't quite put my finger on. There is also a lot of open space in this painting. Very different from the liberty piece. It is just an open landscape of clouds and rocks. Even though the piece bores me, the rocks are very well done. They look like actual 3-D figures and not flat surfaces.
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"Impression, Sunrise":
"Impression, Sunrise" is a piece from the impression category. It is by Claude Monet which she painted in 1874 while in Paris. In this piece, you can see how much more disorganized and smeared this one is compared to the realist pieces I showed before. This one is less detailed and has more of a "first draft" look to it. In this piece, it looks like a boat harbor at sunset. I do not see a real storyline in this piece as I did in the two realist ones. Instead, I see little details that look different or interest me. Impression is my favorite category of the romantic era. It reminds me of my brain. Nothing organized, and kind of a mess. I see tons of color in the piece. The colors look like they were blended together on the canvas instead of wherever the artist puts his paints. I see pinks, oranges, blues, purples, blacks, teal greens, and yellows. At a quick glance, you won't see that much color but if you keep looking, you'll see it. Space is a very interesting element in this piece. The two boats at the bottom of the painting fill in the empty space of water while higher up the piece, the boats at the dock look like they take up space. Not too much and not too little. The lines in this piece stand out to me. There are so many it looks as if every brushstroke is its own individual line. I see that most of the lines are up in the boat harbor area of the painting. I find this painting enjoyable. It is simple, calming, and reminds me of Kodiak, my home.
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"In a Café (The Absinthe Drinker)":
The painting "In a Café (The Absinthe Drinker)" is another piece from the impression category. This one was done in France by a man named Edgar Davis in 1875. When I see this piece, I'm intrigued. It's so detailed yet so smeared and flat. The painting shows a couple sitting next to each other in a café, after what seems to be a long night. The woman looks like she's zoning out, eyes drooped and shoulders slouched. The man looks focused on something to the side of him. He's paying no attention to his slouchy spouse. This painting gives me a "detachment from reality" vibe. The woman is obviously exhausted. The piece is known to portray a darker side of modernity and how emotional emptiness often accompanies it. At the beginning of this paragraph, I said it had detail, but it also didn't. What I mean by that is there's a clear distinction between the objects and background unlike the other painting we talked about, (the sunrise one) but the objects still blend in. The color of this painting is why I dislike it. It is very dark and grey. There's also an offputting green tint that makes me slightly uncomfortable. Space in this portrait is portrayed as weird. Usually main focuses (in this example, the man) are in the middle of the painting, or to the side but not cut off. In this one, he is cut off. He doesn't seem to fit on the canvas. I also see that one side of the canvas is heavily filled with things, while the other side is practically empty. It is unbalanced. The lines in this piece are very clear too. The tables are direct. Leading you to the main focus point of this painting. And so are the lines on the wall. I think it is a well-done piece, but it is not my favorite.
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Gleeson, Maura. “Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise.” Smarthistory.org, 8 Aug. 2023,
https://smarthistory.org/claude-monets-impression-sunrise/
Wood, Ingrid. “Work of the Week – Edgar Degas in a Café (the Absinthe Drinker) (Dans Un Café (L’absinthe)) | NGV.” Vic.gov.au, 7 Sept. 2016, https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/work-of-the-week-edgar-degas-in-a-cafe-the-absinthe-drinker-dans-un-cafe-labsinthe/
Wikipedia Contributors. “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Jan. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog
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