Painting Styles, Impressionist, Post-Impressionist & Modern - Essay Example

Painting Styles, Impressionist, Post-Impressionist & Modern Unearthing of paintings in prehistoric caves from many parts of Europe, from Africa to Australia, demarked the prosperous times of origin and evolution of the art of painting. Right through the History of Painting, there were some schools of painting that were acclaimed as the classical examples of the art while some other schools were considered as rebels. Some of the classical, typical and rebellious styles of painting are popularly known as: Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Modern.

Impressionism: Developed in France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ‘Impressionism’ was first originated in painting and later in Music. A cluster of artists, who shared a set of linked approaches and techniques between 1867 and 1886, emulated this style in their works and it could be discerned as an effort to record the visual reality in terms of momentary effects of light and color. The group included the rebellious young Artists looking for new ways for the expression of ideas in painting.

They attempted to question the traditionalists by portraying objects and scenes that lacked definition, and tried to explain how the eye interpreted objects. Exponents of ‘Impressionism’ also exploited the light sources for exploration and translation of light on the canvas, and the subject matter was the modern world, particularly landscapes. The founding members of ‘Impressionism’ were Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro."Images of suburban and rural leisure outside of Paris were a popular subject for the Impressionists.

” (Samu, 2000–2008). The artistic technique of ‘Impressionism’ includes strong strokes of brush on canvas, and this style uses vibrant shades and attempts to translate scenes with mood and feeling. The Painting-“Autumn Evening,” by the Russian Painter Oleg Frolov in the year 2001, an oil painting on canvas, can be considered as an example of typical ‘Impressionist Painting.’ Post-Impressionism: Post-Impressionism is less easy to define and it differs from Impressionists on dissimilarity in personal styles, and subjects.

In the transitory effects of light and spontaneous compositions, they share similar interest with Impressionists and concern with light, but their personal styles vary greatly. The term Post-Impressionism was coined by the British Art Critic and Painter, Roger Fry. But Post-Impressionism denotes not a single style, but a variety of movements that developed between 1880-1905. Morover, they were in search of new subjects and new forms of representation to deepen the meaning of their work. It can be argued that the innovative styles indicative of Impressionism and Post –Impressionism are the foundations of Modern Art.

The paintings of the world renowned Post-Impressionist Painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890),especially the painting, ” The Potato Eaters”-1885, are examples of Post –Impressionist work. Cubism: Cubists tried new ways of solving the problems of painting three dimensional scenes onto canvas. Their style resorted to the use of straight lines and hard edges. Cubism attempted to solve the fundamental problems in painting and it was an intellectual revolt against the Artistic expression of previous eras.

It consisted of sensual appeal of paint texture and color, and they chose independent subject matter with emotional change or mood, concentrated in the play of light on shape, movement, atmosphere and the illustration that proceeded from scientifically based perspective. Exponents of Cubism challenged the tradition of imitation and it was clear in the works of artists like Picasso, Braque and others. After World War I, the Cubist groups were principally circulated and their collective break from visual realism had an elevating and crucial influence on the development of 20th Century Art.

In addition, Cubism provided a new stylistic vocabulary and a technical Idiom. The work of Pablo Picasso, “Three Musicians” can be considered as the concern of Cubism in Painting. From these Art forms, I prefer cubism because it relates related to the freedom of thought and expression of emotion in the form of Art. Cubism is an outcome within the reach of reality through a more humanistic view and is concerned with socially relevant issues like war and peace. Moreover, Cubism can be deciphered as a revolt against the tradition of imitation, and it searches for a new kind of reality.

The willingness to revolt against tradition and to find out a new form of expression in Art gives the exponents of cubism a unique place in the history of art. These three forms of Arts, illuminate the history of painting as an art form, and are considered as the modes of expression of hidden emotion and restricted Ideas. References Samu, Margaret. (2000–2008). Impressionism: Art and Modernity, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Timeline of Art History. Retrieved June 17, 2008, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm