Preferences and Perspectives - The Romantic Era

The Romantic Era

Impressionism vs. Realism

    Impressionism is the most modern movement in painting, according to The Art Story. This movement was interested in painting what they saw rather than painting important men, history, or mythology. Their paintings were simple. They were so simple that they weren't super precise in their details. They painted what they felt as well. The Impressionism movement also refused official exhibitions, for the French government held their own group exhibitions for the public. Initially, this movement was met with hostility from the public because their paintings were so simple the critics said they were unfinished and of amateur quality. They also moved away from perfect symmetry and painted images of what they saw in day-to-day life.  Over time, this type of painting was accepted. 

    Realism is a form of art that began in the 1840s in France. This movement rejected the traditional art taught in the 1800s, the literature, and social organizations in that era. Realism also set the tone for modern art. Realism paintings depict everyday life, landscapes, and real-life events. During this time, they also painted unprecedented times in history, such as wars, slavery, and death. These were very dark times in our history. 

Impressionism

Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son

1875 by Claude Monet

    Monet depicts a portrait of a woman and a child on a sunny day in this painting. The colors are vibrant and beautiful, and the sky and clouds are surreal. At the time, Monet was just starting to focus on landscape pictures before painting figures. Monet depicts a casual family outing. As her dress whisps forward, you see it is a breezy day. Same with the cloud formations, you can tell that it was breezy. 

    The painting Woman with a Parasol caught my eye because of the unique angle of the pose. I love photography and enjoy taking pictures from any angle, not just the direct angle. While taking this art class, I have not seen a painting painted from a low viewpoint. I also love how he almost presents the lady as transparent with the sky. Compared with other Impressionism paintings, this is more eye-catching.

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Slave Ship

1840 - Joseph Mallord William Turner

    The Slave Ship painting depicts slaves on a ship. The big waves and the dark sky also show the darkness during dark times. In the painting, there are also slaves in the foreground who are in shackles. This impressionist portrait portrays exactly what someone who was in captivity felt. The sunset is vibrant, and the sky is red, which I see as eerie or frightful. The portrait shows men in chains, but that is hard to see.

    Portraits such as Impressionism would be my least favorite.  I like looking at paintings with more detail. With the slave ship painting, I had to look closely at the small details and figure out what they were. It took me a while to find where bodies with chains were. These two styles of Impressionism are very different. One has more detail than the other.

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Realism

Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Field of Waterloo exhibited 1818

This oil painting depicts the battlefield of Waterloo. The light sheds brightness on the death of many soldiers where they lay. The moonlight shines bright to light up the sky. He uses a lot of dark colors to paint the night sky. Joseph Turner visited the battlefields in Holland and Belgium. He has many paintings of what he saw at the battlefields and this is just on of this portraits. 

Realist portraits are very surreal to me. Unlike the impresionist portraits that do not go into great detail. Although this portrays sadness, the painting looks very real.

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Charles IV of Spain and His Family 1800

Francis Goya

This is a portrait of the royal family in the 1800s. During Goya's career, this was one of his best works. This portrait stood out because of its distance, whereas his portraits were more zoomed in before. Goya also painted himself in the portrait, which I find interesting. It is said that he is standing in the background on the left side. The Spanish royal family includes Queen Maria Luisa, her son, her daughter Maria Isabel, King Charles, Prime Minister Manuel Godoy, and the rest of the family. In the realism, you can see their luxurious jewels. This painting caught my attention because I have been watching The Crown shows and seen pictures and short clips of the Princess of Spain.

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When first looking at the paintings, my initial thoughts were that Impressionism was something I wasn't interested in, and I liked Realism.  After reading more about the movement, I decided that I liked Impressionism. So rather than having one I prefer and one I don't prefer, I like both.  In that era, artists were brave in trying something new and that is what is best about art. It doesn't have to be one way or a certain way; art is what we make of it, with how we feel and what interests us the most. There are no boundaries to where art will take you. 

Sources:

(No date) Woman with a parasol - madame monet and her son, 1875 by Claude Monet. Available at: https://www.claude-monet.com/woman-with-a-parasol.jsp#google_vignette (Accessed: 26 March 2024).

JMW Turner Paintings, bio, ideas (no date) The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/turner-jmw/#pnt_5 (Accessed: 26 March 2024).

Brown, D.B. (2012) Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-1775-1851-r1141041 (Accessed: 26 March 2024).

Impressionism movement overview (no date) The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/impressionism/ (Accessed: 26 March 2024).

Realism movement overview (no date) The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/movement/realism/ (Accessed: 26 March 2024).

Francisco Goya Paintings, bio, ideas (no date) The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/goya-francisco/ (Accessed: 26 March 2024).