Impressionism Art - Essay Example

Impressionism originated from artists from Paris in the 19th century, which made the artists to be well-known in the 1870s due to their unique and enticing artwork. Impressionism involves images made from light and thin strokes of paint. These images when viewed at different angles against light, bring out different impressions. This includes movement, which brings the pictures made closer to the real, practical world. The pictures are bright, and pulsating with a lot of color and most of them are outdoor scenes. At that time in the 19th century, the impressionists had gone against the rules of painting and some critics referred to their exhibitions as unfinished sketches, but within a short period, the art was accepted and termed to be more stylish and with a large range of excitable effects. Though this art of impressionism was invented a long time ago, it is still used and highly adored at this present time.

Claude Monet was born in Paris in November 1840 and was the founder of impressionism art. He joined an art school in 1851 where he used to make and sell charcoal caricatures. Later on, he met Jacques-Francois Ochard who became his art tutor and introduced him to using oil paints and outdoor painting. In 1862, Monet became a student of an art scholar called Alfred Sisley in Paris of whom they shared and exchanged ideas on art, and together, they brought about the effect of light on paintings with thin strokes of paint, which brought about the art of impressionism.

When the painting is up close, there is a clear image of a woman holding an umbrella with a small boy. The boy’s face is not very clear; the circles around his eyes make him appear as if he is wearing glasses. It is clear that the painting is of a sunny and windy day with some cloud cover. The sun is shining from the right, and it is difficult to say where the cloud cover begins or ends. The direction of the wind is not clear. When looking at the woman’s face, the wind appears to be coming from the left blowing against her face and hair. The grass and her dress give the impression that the wind is blowing from the right.  There is the woman’s shadow on the grass and other shadows too.

From a distance, the image is very clear though both the woman’s and the boy’s faces cannot be seen clearly. The direction of the wind is still noticed from the grass and the woman’s clothing. Compared with the lighting of the surrounding, the woman’s shadow on the grass become bolder as other dark patches on the grass become clearer.

Light-reflecting on the grass brings out the warmth in the picture. The contrasting shadows on the grass show how sunny the day is. Light-reflecting on the clouds tells a lot about the weather. It shows that it is not going to rain any soon since the clouds are feathery and bright.

The woman’s and the boy’s clothing colors almost blend with the color of the sky background. The clouds here have been used to bring contrast in the background. The woman and the boy have the same color of clothes, and this brings out the relationship between the two. It definitely shows that the boy is her son and having the same color of clothes shows the bond between the mother and the son. The green color of the grass binds the green color of the parasol. The parasol brings out total contrast to the blue background thus attracting the eye.

The bending of the grass, the swirling of the woman’s dress, and her rather ruffled-up hair show that there is wind hence bringing movement into the picture. The tilting of the umbrella to the left shows that the breeze is strong, and the woman is struggling to keep it upright. By painting the boy from his head to his waist, the picture of the distance downward has been brought out. Probably the two are on top of a slope or the land they are standing on is hilly.

Impressionism has been used to show wind blowing against the woman. The colors on her dress are light, giving the impression that the dress is being blown. The feathery color on her face brings out the impressionism depicting wind blowing past her. The solid color of the grass and parasol also shows the art of impressionism. The dark shadows on the grass bring out the life in the picture. They bring out the reality that the picture is an outdoor painting. The art has also been used in showing movement in the picture bringing it closer to real human life and experience.