The art of the impressionists - Essay Example

Impressionism which was a major movement developed chiefly in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, comprised of works produced between about 1867 and 1886 by a group of artists who shared a set of related approaches and techniques. The most conspicuous characteristic of Impressionism was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and color (Pioch). This can be seen in the Claude Monet's "Water lilies," "Water Lilies (The Clouds)" and "Water lilies, Green Reflection, Left Part" wherein Monet captured the pond with water lilies from different perspectives which in turn affects the lighting conditions.

The light and color effects can also be noticed in Camille Pissarro's works wherein the lights and colors vary depending on the specific time of the day. In "The Stage Coach at Louveciennes," the artist painted the scene in dark lighting conditions possessing complementary colors of reds and greens generously used by the artist while in "Le verger (The Orchard)," the noticeable brightness of the day light and the complementing colors of violet with shades of yellow and the blue sky in contrast to the hint of orange shade of the soil.

In the "Village Path," the red lighting of the painting can be clearly seen which in turn complements the dominantly green color of the scenery.In addition to the attribute of light and color effects of the impressionist style, impressionistic paintings are also characterized by concentration on the general impression produced by a scene or object and the use of unmixed primary colors, as explained with the examples previously mentioned, and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light (Pioch).

The small but bold brush strokes were evident in the artworks "Impression, Sunrise" and "The Cliff at F'camp" by Claude Monet; "Still Life with Pears" and "The House of Pere Lacroix in Auvers" by Paul C'zanne; "Banks of the Seine at Champrosay" and "At the Luxembourg Gardens" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir among others.The Impressionist movement was in parallel with the technology and philosophical ideas of their time because they had revolutionized the painting in terms of the use of colors, the treatment of nature as subject, the composition and the brushworks of the paintings.

Simultaneous with the major developments in technology and philosophy, the Impressionists made major changes in the art scene. With regards to the change in the use of colors, the artworks from the previous era used deep and rich with dark shadows while the Impressionists used light and vibrant colors which were oftentimes were mixed directly on the canvas. In treating nature as the subject, the Pre-Impressionists used nature as backdrop for their main subjects and were frequently altered and embellished with other figures to add a dramatic effect to the main subject, thus, rendering the painting of nature as artificial.

On the other hand, the Impressionists believed nature to be a subject in its own right, depicting nature as the artists see them rendering a real life perspective of nature (Experience Impressionism). Compositions from the Pre-Impressionism era were theatrical and monumental, focusing on a central action or group of figures which are larger-than-life and at times depicted with identical bodies. In contrast, the Impressionists deviated from this traditional composition by cropping or framing their subjects (Experience Impressionism).

Brushworks were changed by the Impressionists when they used small but bold brush strokes which were in great contrast to the fine and smooth finish of the previous art movements (Experience Impressionism).These aspects plus the divergence from the prevailing themes of historical, religious and mythology to Impressionistic themes of everyday life and common sceneries, made the Impressionist movement reflect the important changes of their contemporaries in the fields of technology and philosophy.

CITED WORKSPioch , Nicolas. "Impressionism." Webmuseum. 19 June 2006. 10 December 2007. ."Experience Impressionism." Learn About Impressionism. High Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Denver Art Museum. 10 December 2007. .