Romantic Era Blog

Realism vs Impressionism 

For this blog I decided to compare impressionism to realism. Impressionism was created from realism, therefore the works of art from both have quite a few similarities. Impressionists painted art that captures the scenes from the world around them as realistic as possible, this is also what realism does. The main difference between the two is that while they both capture realistic scenes, impressionists focus on a more pleasurable aspect; realists paint exactly what they saw. I prefer realism over impressionism because I like how raw and deep realism art can be. 

Impressionism

Impression Sunrise- Claude Monet

This was created in 1872 while visiting family in Le Havre, it is a painting of port there in Le Havre. This painting has a fantastic depiction of how colors show depth. The colors of the boats further out in the water almost blend in with the clouds and water to show it is further away while the boats that are closer are darker and more distinct. This painting is a great example of how Impressionist art shows a pleasurable aspect on what they see. I feel Monet was aiming for a calming sense of art; this is not a typical Monet painting because of the obvious brush strokes and pastel colors. I really like this painting because when I look at it I see people on their boats enjoying the sun set, I feel this painting gives a sense of peace. I would love to own this painting and hang it in my house. 

In a Park- Berthe Morisot

This was painted in 1874 in Musee De Petit Palais, Paris. This painting shows both of Berthe's typical works of art: landscape and portrait. This shows a mother enjoying quality time with her children catching butterflies and introducing the family dog to the youngest child. The pastels in this create lighting and aid in showing the timelessness of this painting. The long grass and trees show their textures because of the visible brushstrokes. This is another good example of impressionism because of the soft tones and shadows to show the timing of the painting. I don't think I would own this painting, but not because I don't find it interesting or beautiful; it just simply isn't a type of painting I would have hanging in my house. 

Realism

The Stone Breakers- Gustave Courbet

This was painted in 1849 in Gemäldegalerie, Dresden. I chose this art because it is a huge difference from the works I picked from the impressionism style. This painting shows two hard working laborers working on removing stone from the road and their tattered and dirty clothing. This is exactly what realism is, showing exactly what they see; this painting shows the hard truth about how difficult the laborers worked. Courbet wanted to express the abuse and deprivation from the mid-century French rural life by displaying two workers, one old and one young doing this back breaking work. The art elements are obvious in this painting. The texture in the rocks, their pants, the ground, etc. The interesting colors and shading to show the depth; the background has what looks like mountains, the darkness and shadows of them makes them appear further away. My favorite part of this painting is the definition in their pants, I love how Courbet made the pants look so realistic with the creases and lines. Realism is my favorite style of art because I like seeing how things actually are, not how people want you to see them. Although I do love this piece of Art, I would not own it. 

Barge Haulers on the Volga- Ilya Repin

This was painted in 1868 on the river Neva in St. Petersburg. This is another great example of realism, this picture is honestly a hard one to look at; not because I don't think it is a well painted art work, but because of how these people were treated. I like realism art because the works aren't just a beautiful painting, they have so much meaning and most of the time intensity in them as well. This is a painting of barge haulers in harnesses over worked to the point where they look like they are about to collapse but still pulling that ship upstream anyway. Color plays a big role in this painting as well; the color of the sand fading into the water, the dark clothing on the barge haulers, the light blue sky to contrast with the water, etc. This painting is one of the deepest paintings I have seen, I would not own this but I do love it. 

https://www.artst.org/impressionism-vs-realism/

http://www.berthe-morisot.com/in-a-park/

https://www.claude-monet.com/impression-sunrise.jsp

https://smarthistory.org/courbet-the-stonebreakers/

https://www.theartstory.org/movement/impressionism/artworks/

https://www.theartstory.org/movement/realism/artworks/