The Romantic Era
I am a romantic. There is no doubt that the Romantic Era is my favorite. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austin in 1796; anything Jan Austin is my favorite. I am a bit obsessed - ask my kiddos. My favorite artists are Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Millais.
This week's assignment is to pick a style that I like and one that isn’t my favorite from the Romantic era. To pick the least favorite style of this period would be impossible for me. I love them all. I will compare two of my favorite styles and artists and tell you what I love the most. I hope I don’t get points taken off for not picking my least favorite.
Impressionism vs Post-Impressionism
Above is an example of two artists with two different styles that have huge contrasts with the same subjects. Pablo Picasso was a huge admirer of Edward Degas. Picasso made many representations of Degas’s art. (Lees). I am obsessed with all of these works. I would hang all of them in my home. The contrast between Degas and Picasso is drastic with the pastel colors and soft lines of Degas and the bold colors and hard, thick lines of Picasso. Other comparisons between Impressionism and Post-impressionism can be more subtle.
Artist: Edgar Degas
Date: 1893
Medium: Pastel
Period: Impressionism
Location: Private Collection
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Date: 1925
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Post-Impressionism
Location: Tate Modern, Bankside, London
Artist: Edgar Degas
Date: 1875
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Impressionism
Location: Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Portrait of Sebastià Junyer i Vidal
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Date: 1903
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Post-Impressionism
Location: Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Movements
Impressionism
This style was highly criticized in the art community at the time. It was a massive departure from traditional realistic work. They focused more on the everyday scenes of people and subject matter, not the upper-class patrons.
Who is your favorite Impressionist Artists?
Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Slides of famous Impressionism Art
Claude Monet
Image: Claude Monet Photographed by Nada
Born November 18, 1840, in Paris, France, Monet always had a passion for art, most likely fueled by his artistic mother, who had been a singer before her marriage and had been an artist herself in various fields.
Monet was a student of Jacques-Francois Ouchard and later caught the eye of Eugene Boudin, a pioneer in the new art of painting en plein air. When Monet’s mother died, his father did not support his career, and Monet moved in with his Aunt, who sponsored him in an advanced art course in Pars.
Monet was rejected by the Academie dex Beaux-Arts for their exhibitions at the Salon de Paris. They considered his paintings to be amateur and unrefined. Monet attempted suicide in 1868 because of these rejections and prolonged poverty. Fortunately, he survived and was able to see his success. (Lu)
Monet died of lung cancer on December 5, 1926
He was the founder of Impressionism. The word was coined after his painting Impression, Sunrise.
Artist: Claud Monet
Date: 1872
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Impressionism
Location: Musee Marmottan Monet, Paris, France
Post-Impressionism
This painting style arose in response to the impressionists' obsession with the realistic representation of light and color.
This style is more focused on abstract features or symbolic meaning.
Who was your favorite Post-impressionist:
Paul cezanne, Pablo Picasso, Georges Seurat, Edward Munch
Vincent Van Gough
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Date: 1889
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Post-Impressionist
Location: Musée d’Orsay Paris, France
Van Gough was born on March 30, 1853, in the Netherlands, where he studied at a local art academy. He moved to Paris in 1880 and lived with his brother Theo who ran an art gallery.
Van Gough painted over 43 self-portraits, paintings, or drawings in 10 years. He wrote his sister, "I am looking for a deeper likeness than that obtained by a photographer." And later to his brother: "People say, and I am willing to believe it, that it is hard to know yourself. But it is not easy to paint yourself, either. The portraits painted by Rembrandt are more than a view of nature, they are more like a revelation". (Schnabel)
Vincent had two art styles: his begging works are more black and white with some hints of color focused more on rural scenes, landscapes, and portraits from around 1880-1886 to his more famous works from 1887-1890 with vibrant colors, forceful frenzied brushstrokes and themes of poverty and loneliness. (van Gogh)
Vincent struggled most of his life with mental health. He died of suspected suicide on July 29th, 1890. Sadly, he never saw his success of such paintings Sunflowers, Café Terrace at Night, and The Starry Night become iconic symbols
Similarities
They both rejected Realism
They both painted En Plein Air
They both suffered from mental illness
Differences
Different art movements Impressionism - Monet and Post-Impressionism - Van Gogh
Monet uses light, and Van Gogh uses Color
Monet uses short brush strokes, and Van Gogh Doesn’t
Monet saw success, and Van Gogh did not
Comparing these two artists when they painted similar subjects would be fun. Sunflowers are my favorite. I love Monet’s Bouquet of Sunflowers more than Van Goghs Sunflowers. Monets contrast with the red table cloth making the sunflowers pop. Van Gogh's different colors of yellow and his loose stokes on the sunflowers give off the impression of being sad and dying; perhaps that was the impression he was trying for.
For the Iris paintings, I prefer Van Gogh’s style of dark outlines around each flower and stem; it gives the flowers a two-dimensional design that pops. Mone’s style of being so loose, the iris flowers blend, making them blurry, all most disappearing into the background.
Artist: Claud Monet
Date: 1881
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Impressionism
Location: The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 819
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Date: 1889
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Post-Impressionism
Location: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Lilac Iris 2
Artist: Claud Monet
Date: 1881
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Impressionism
Location: Private Collection
Iris
Artist: Vincent van Gogh
Date: 1889
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Period: Post-Impressionism
Location: Getty Museum
Vincent Van Gogh vrs. Lesa Sears
I would never compare myself to Vincent Van Gogh or Claude Monet, but I did do a representation of van Gogh’s famous Starry Night Fairbanks Alaska Style. Leave a comment and let me know what you think of it.
Works Cited
