DOGA COBANOGLU
DOGA COBANOGLU
VISUAL ART
VISUAL ART
UNIT 3: IMPRESSIONISM - THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION
What was Monet trying to achieve in his impressionist painting?
Firstly, to perceive what Monet was trying to achieve we must understand the concept of impressionism and impressionist paintings; to depict the original and first visual interpretation of what was happening in what you are painting, specifically towards how the colour and light are shown in atmospheric conditions (e.i: light flickering on water). This style and movement of art is willing to have an objective view of the painting and not a scientific accurate image of it. It first originated in 1860 France, where a group of artists called themselves "The Impressionists", they received their name from an art critic called Louis Leroy shamed a member of their groups art using that term. It was Monet's "Impression, Sunrise" as you can see on the left. The group adopted the comment and made it their official name.
They not only created diverse art but took a large toll to show their art which was very hard in the nineteenth century. In that day in age, the only source of living for artists were to display their art in the grand "The Salon" exhibition. The Impressionist were not satisfied with these rules and were not determined to wait for acceptance from France, but to show their art to the world on their own. People had not respected their style and stated it was "vulgar" and the colours did not match the identity of the object, which meant it was up to the Impressionist to make a change. Which is why they created their own exhibition called the "Anonymous society of painters, sculptures and printmakers", it opened in May 1874 and held 8 exhibitions in total. By then they had established their own style and had be renounced to the art world.
The main members of the Impressionist were Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, August Renoir and many more. Monet represented a big role and was a key figure in the group, his art was majorly based around the French countryside. To the answer the question above, by using impressionism he intended to capture exact way he perceived nature. For example he painted the same view in changes of light through the seasons passed. He was known to be best and painting impressionist paintings of things he knew well, for example the people, environment and such. Throughout his entire life he painted 2,500 pieces of art and even destroyed some of his work! This was because at times he unawarely painted with no control which led him to dislike the outcome of instinct.
Impressionist Paintings from France in the 19th century - ELBOW Method
E- Everyday life; "Public domain" by Berthe Morisot (no date)
Explanation: Image of everyday life of man working on garden with tools, looks out window and sees ordinary people walking past with the ocean in the back. Could be interpreted differently.
L - Light; "La Grenouillère" by Claude Monet (1869)
Explanation: Outcome of Monet and Renoir setting their easels on the Seine, in the summer of 1869.
B - Brushwork; "Allée of Chestnut Trees" by Alfred Sisley (1878)
Explanation: Small part of Sisley's wide range of interest in nature specifically.
O - Outdoors; "The Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne" by Alfred Sisley (1872)
Explanation: One of the many modern architecture pieces Sisley has painted in the impressionist style, the Villeneuve-la-Garenne bridge was built in 1844.
W - Weather; "Rue de Paris, temps de pluie" by Gustave Caillebotte (1877)
Note: Although it displays weather affect in humans, the actual weather is not shown in the sky which I found intriguing and diverse from other pieces.
Explanation: Caillebotte uses focus and influence in the drawing to show his point of view of what he was painting.
Point of view on perception:
Firstly, after reading multiple definitions of perception, I have agreed and understood that it means; to become aware, observe or interpret your surroundings using your senses to fulfil a mental cognition. In other words, to "perceive" something in the context of a reality is to see it in your own way, everyone is able to see the world differently in their unique point of view. For example, we discussed in class the theory of "red". You may call that apple red and I may call it red, but that is just a label we have given it. Our perception of "red" may be completely and utterly different in many ways. This could be applied in many situations and is something I used to completely understand what perception was.
On the other hand, in relation to perception we are discussing the statement; "whether impressionist painting does indeed come closer to our visual experience of the world than other ‘realistic’ painting styles". I do not disagree or agree due to the following.
There are seven main types of art as "Thought Co." states, the range goes from realism to abstract. They are known as photorealism, realism, painterly, impressionism, expressionism/fauvism, abstraction and abstract. Each style has its own explanation to interpreting to the world, for example in abstraction "Abstraction is about painting the essence of a subject or your interpretation of the subject rather than the visible realistic detail"(Thought Co., 2017). As they have pointed out, abstraction can also be the root to showing your perception through new observation and diverse ways of showing the object. Meaning impressionist painting is not the only style that is closest to our visual experience of the world, although it still is one of the methods.
On the other hand, we must consider that impressionism is the vital point of light and colour in our perception. Both factors (light and colour) are a major impact on the overall version of what we are seeing, for example if there was no light we would see only two shades (b&w) or if there was light reflected the colour of the objects or area would be shown/observed. Meaning no matter what, light affects colour and this affects our observation of the overall image. But how light and color is ineterpreted changes for each person, meaning it all goes back to our own perception. Impressoinism gives the artist more freedom and visual experience, "The Impressionists created a model for freedom and subjectivity that promoted artistic freedom that which many artists of the past longed for (Impressionism, 2017). This is a significant difference between the other six styles, they may able you to interpret the image unlike how it is shown visually but impressionism gives a wider range, crucial for larger audiences that come with diverse points of views.
To conclude, the reason I am not able to agree or disagree with the statement is because there are many styles of art that enable us to interpret the world in our own choice not only impressionism, but it is the most useful and diversified option as stated in detail above.
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