Romanticism, Realism,

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Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism in Art
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Romanticism

• characterized by the 5 Is
• Imagination was emphasized over reason. This
  was a backlash against the rationalism
  characterized by the Neoclassical period.
  Imagination was considered necessary for creating
  all art.
• Intuition feeling and instincts are more
  important than reason value is placed on strong
  emotion art tried to evoke emotion.
• Idealism emphasizes the spirit, the mind, or
  language over matter we can make the world a
  better place through art.
• Inspiration - The Romantic artist was an
  inspired creator rather than a technical
  master. What this means is going with the
  moment or being spontaneous, rather than
  getting it precise.
• Individuality - Romantics celebrated the
  individual. Governments and movements should not
  sacrifice the individual but raise him/her.

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Realism

• Attempts to create a truthful and accurate
  depiction of the models that nature and
  contemporary life offer to the artist.
• The artificiality of both the Classicism and
  Romanticism in the academic art was unanimously
  rejected
• New idea was that ordinary people and everyday
  activities are worthy subjects for art.
• Artists - Realists attempted to portray the
  lives, appearances, problems, customs, and mores
  of the middle and lower classes, of the
  unexceptional, the ordinary, the humble, and the
  unadorned.

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Impressionism

• Photography changed painting immensely, when
  artists like Monet discovered how photography
  worked - the capturing of individual grains of
  light - they began to change the concept they had
  of art and painting.
• Also felt that trying to capture things
  realistically via painting was pointless since a
  camera could do that.
• Painters felt that objects are not so much things
  in themselves as they are agents for the
  absorption of color and light. Shadows are not
  black or gray, but tend to take on a color
  complementary to object.
• Rebelled against hard lines of neoclassicism -
  There are no hard lines in nature, lines don't
  exist in nature. Concern of the painter should be
  more with light and color.
• Tried to brighten up paintings by using primary
  colors to increasingly convey the illusion of
  sunlight through a prism.

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Post Impressionism

• A Collection of artists with very diverse,
  individual, styles influenced by the
  Impressionists
• in fact, Post Impressionism was a reaction to the
  limited impressionist view that paintings should
  be all about light. Post Impressionists wanted to
  do more.
• Post-Impressionists continued using vivid colors,
  thick application of paint, distinctive
  brushstrokes and real-life subject matter, but
  they were more inclined to emphasize geometric
  forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and
  to use unnatural or arbitrary color
• Each painter in the movement pursued unique,
  personal subject matter and, while sharing
  stylistic goals with the other Post-Impressionists
  , had a personal form of expression.
• For example, Cézanne abandoned the
  Impressionists' virtuoso depiction of evanescent
  light effects in order to pursue his
  preoccupation with the underlying structures of
  natural forms and the problem of unifying surface
  patterns with spatial depth.
• Both Gauguin and van Gogh rejected the
  indifferent objectivity of Impressionism in favor
  of a more personal, spiritual expression.
• Seurat and his followers concerned themselves
  with Pointillism, the systematic use of tiny dots
  of color.