Blog Post #6: Romantic Era Blog
Realism Versus Impressionism
The Romantic Era saw expansive growth in industrial technology, further spurring economic progress and access to wealth for more middle- and lower-class individuals. Along with these advances in technology came strides in the world of art, including the development of the first cameras. While this idea of truly capturing a moment with the click of a button advanced, this didn't mean traditional styles of art fell into irrelevancy. While dramatic styles from the Renaissance and Baroque eras fell out of favor, new styles were becoming popular to replace them. Realism and impressionism are two styles these rose to prominence during the Romantic Era in the late 1800s.
Realism is a style that is focused on portraying reality in a natural way, or a "realistic almost photographic way" according to Tate. While the styles within realism can vary from hyper-realistic to subtle realism, they all share the traits of being drama-free and generally ordinary subject matters. From the text this week, realism is "telling the truth as a perfect ideal," an idea that the world as we know it is beautiful as it is; we don't need to alter things for them to attain perfection.
The Salmon Fisher, Eilif Peterssen, 1889, oil on canvas
The Salmon Fisher by Eilif Peterssen, or Laksefiskeren in his native Norwegian, is a great example of a realism piece. The scene is unembellished and non-idealized; just a fisherman and his boat. The painting is very realistic and almost looks like a photograph.
Fallen Monarchs, William Bliss Baker, 1886, oil on canvas
Fallen Monarchs by William Bliss Baker is another piece that fits within the realism style. While the scene appears almost ethereally peaceful, it's ultimately just a simple wooded area captured in a single moment. The style of painting is very realistic and it feels like you could take a step into the painting.
Impressionism is another style that was prominent during the Romantic Era, producing some very popular works. Impressionism is centered around capturing a 'fleeting moment,' or 'spontaneously on the spot' according to Tate. The style typically consists of loose brush strokes and sketchy lines. It's similar to realism in the sense that there's a moment being captured, but it represents the moment in a much more fluid manner, as every second passed produces a different environment for change. Impressionism aims to immortalize this moment before it escapes.
The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh, 1889, oil on canvas
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh is a famous impressionist piece that I'm sure we've all seen and recognize. The scene is set as a beautiful night sky over a small village. Instead of taking a very literal approach to the scene, however, and making it more realistic, van Gogh took it a different direction with creative liberty, another driving factor in impressionism. Brush strokes are loose and make the blue night sky appear almost like water. Details in the hills behind the village are minimal; enough to make sure the viewer knows what they are, but not too much to distract them from the focal point. Overall, the piece feels much more artistic than realism counterparts. While the scene still isn't dramatic by any means, it feels like there was a little bit of emotion put into The Starry Night's creation.
Impression, Sunrise, Claude Monet, 1872, oil on canvas
Impression, Sunrise by Claude Monet is another impressionist piece that represents similar principles to van Gogh's works. Monet does a great job minimalizing the more minor details, and instead shifting the focus to the two individuals in the boat, and the reflections of the trees, boat, and beautiful morning sunrise, a moment that is remembered forever by the two in the painting.
Overall, impressionism and realism are beautiful styles that were rightfully very popular during the Romantic Era. While both have their attributes, impressionism leaves a greater impression on me personally (pun intended). Realism pieces are beautiful to look at, but sometimes it's difficult to determine what's a painting or drawing and what's photography for hyper-realistic works. Ultimately, to me, realism feels like imitation more than the purest form of art. This takes immense talent, don't get me wrong, but it feels less authentic than impressionist pieces that each take their own artistic liberty, and feel much more like 'art.' There's emotion and thought behind impressionism instead of just replication of a scene or image.
Thank you for reading!
Works Cited
Tate. “Art Term: Impressionism.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms.
Tate. “Art Term: Realism.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/r/realism.
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteI like the art that you shared in your blog. I am definitely a bigger fan of realism art, then of impressionism art, but there are some pieces of impressionism art that I like. I like realism art, because we can see things so accurately, without actually being there. Impressionist art is a little harder to like, but there are definitely some pieces of art that look really cool.
The oil painting, The Salmon Fisher, by Eilif Peterssen is an awesome painting of a fisherman on a calm river. I cannot believe that Peterssen was able to depict the fisherman, and the surroundings so well. I love how he made the water look so real. I like this painting, because it shows a fisherman enjoying his time riding his boat on a beautiful river, while he checks his net for any fish that he caught. I like how Peterssen used a horizontal line to represent the edge of the water, to show that it is calm in the picture, and to show that we are looking at land that goes back into the distance by quite a bit.
I also find the painting, Fallen Monarchs, by William Bliss Baker to be a pretty cool, calm painting of nature. Baker was a landscape artist, who painted what he saw in nature. I like it, because it is a detailed picture of land that could be found in nature, with the trees, the water, and the moss that can be seen. I like that the big oak tree near the front of the painting has so much detail incorporated into it, to create texture, so that the painting looks even more realistic.
The Starry Night, by Vincent van Gogh is one of the calm impressionist paintings that I like so much. The painting is sort of depressing though, when you learn that it most likely had to do with the fact that he was contemplating his life. He painted The Starry Night when he was in an insane asylum, where he was apparently contemplating his life. He used a cypress tree, because it was a common symbol of death, while he painted the stars, because it was believed that the people who died would go up to the stars. Avoiding these facts, I like the painting, because it looks cool. I like how it is a quiet town at night, sitting below a sky filled with stars. I feel like Vincent van Gogh created the stars in his painting with circles, to depict continuous movement, since the clouds are continuously moving across the sky.
The painting, Impression, Sunrise, by Claude Monet is not really one of my favorite paintings. It is cool to see the small row boats out on the water, under the sun, but it is not cool to see the big cargo ships, with their billowing chimneys in the distance. This painting was one of the many paintings that Monet completed, because of what he saw in front of him. This is kind of how I feel, I feel like the painting is a regular day of sailors on their boats, completing their job as they always do. I like how Monet used color, to create the reflection of the sunlight on the water, so that the painting looks more realistic.
John, I really enjoyed reading your post about Realism and Impressionism. Out of the two styles, I prefer Impressionism. I agree with you that it feels more "artistic" as compared to realism. Sometimes I find realism to be more impressive but Impressionism is more interesting to look at and analyze. I would have liked to read more about the artists intentions in your post to better understand the paintings. Yes, they can all just be considered landscape paintings but I think there is more meaning and emotion behind them like you hinted about The Starry Night. Although some may disagree, I find the emotions behind The Starry Night to be quite dark. Van Gogh was struggling mentally during the time that he created the painting and I think it shows through the colors, tones, and even lines. I wonder if there is a bigger story behind the other paintings that would contribute to the emotions of the pieces.
ReplyDeleteYou picked beautiful pieces for this article, which really makes it hard to choose a favorite. Baker's landscape almost reminds me of Alaskan forest, strangely reminiscent of my hikes in Girdwood. I do adore the photographic quality of the realist paintings you chose here. I guess out of all of them, though, the Monet would be my favorite. The colors of the sky and sunset are the dream colors for a sunset photo when I'm trying to take one. The impressionist style definitely allows for more interpretation or storytelling on the viewer's end, which I also like. The setting of the pieces are pretty ambiguous, as if they could be happening anywhere. Thanks for sharing!
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