Romantic Era Blog

Romanticism vs. Impressionism

Impressionism

    Impressionism's dabs of color and loose brush stoke techniques lead me to prefer it over romanticism.  It is wild to me that an artist can add to a painting by adding "random" (although well thought out) splotches of paint. Most works of art would be ruined with such a technique but impressionism leaves the viewer with a sense of imagination. 

A Van Gogh Self Portrait from 1886

    When people think of Impressionism, they often think of Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting, Starry Night (June 1889). While Starry Night is a great piece of art, I prefer the self-portraits that he did throughout his relatively short lifetime. The above Self Portrait from 1886, painted in Arles France, is one of my favorites due to the fact that he looks so wise and calm. If you look at the way that his life played out, you would think otherwise, but I think these self-portraits allow the viewer to see Van Gogh the way that he saw himself. This is one of the reasons I prefer Impressionism so much. It allows the viewer to make their own opinions about the subject matter. 

Waterlilies and Japanese Bridge Claude Monet, 1899

    Another great Impressionism artist was Claude Monet. She, like much of the world at the time, took much inspiration from the Japanese. The light brushstrokes that create the dense trees in the background, as well as the wildlife growth on the surface of the water, elicit a peaceful feeling from the viewer. The use of different colors used for shading instead of just the typical colors mixed with brown and grey is what makes Impressionism stand out the most to me. It leaves viewers in a dream-like state of wonder, wanting more. 

Romanticism

Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops Grounds by John Constable, 1823

    Compared to Impressionism, I feel that Romanticism expresses all of the feeling and emotion, but doesn't leave any room for the imagination of the viewer. While the Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishops Grounds by John Constable is certainly a beautiful painting, it leaves no mystery to the viewer. I think there is a reason that many popular TV shows (see Disney's Loki) end every episode with a cliffhanger. It leaves the viewer wanting more. Constable visited this cathedral twice and took sketches that he used later to get the details for his painting correct. The detail to the cathedral is absolutely stunning due to the sheer amount of time that it would have taken to get it to that point. What I think is most interesting about this painting is that there were actually three versions of this painting. Constable made this version, the third one, so that he could remove the arch of trees over the spire, allowing for more light to appear. This addition of light gave the painting a larger, brighter sky, often akin to romantic paintings. 

The Oxbow, 1836 by Thomas Cole
    By far my favorite use of Romanticism in art is The Oxbow by Thomas Cole, painted in Massachusetts. I love the outdoors, and I love early depictions of Western American lifestyles in art, and I feel that this painting takes the cake. While this work differs from most artwork that was considered Romantic, due to the lack of a tragic subject matter, or an exotic world of dreams, its use of peaceful emotion leaves the viewer feeling at ease. The way the thunderstorm on the horizon is rolling away from the viewer makes it seem as if there is a new beginning. 



Citations

Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10497.

Cascone, Sarah. “Vincent Van Gogh Cut Off His Ear to Silence Hallucinations and 10 Other Things We Learned in a New Book About Him.” Artnet News, Artnet News, 19 Mar. 2019, news.artnet.com/art-world/starry-night-vincent-van-gogh-asylum-1336622#:~:text=It%20was%20that%20infamously%20violent,%2C%20to%20May%2016%2C%201890.

Impressionism, www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/impressionism.htm.

Tim. “Was Van Gogh an Impressionist?: ImpressionistArts.” ImpressionistArts.com, Tim, 8 July 2021, impressionistarts.com/was-van-gogh-an-impressionist.

“Vincent Van Gogh.” Van Gogh Museum, www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/vincents-life-and-work.




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