Romantic Era
Romantic Era
Realist Style
I chose to share the style I dislike more first and share the style I prefer for last. The realist style was developed in the mid 1800’s and was an art style that was a reaction against Romanticism. Most Realist paintings were painted with livestock, farm workers, middle class, and ordinary activities. Realist style, also known as realism, is an artistic style of detailed depiction of nature or contemporary life.
“The Floor Scrapers” by Gustave Caillebotte 1875 Paris (102 cm x 146.5 cm)
The first painting I chose from the Realist style or Realism style was painted by Gustave Caillebotte. This painting is known as The Floor Scrapers. According to Google Arts & Culture this painting is also known as The Floor Planers. This painting is characterized as a realist style painting because of its representation of urban proletariat. Paintings with the representation of peasants, or country workers, city workers, the depiction of someone working hard. The Floor Scrapers is an oil on canvas painting created in 1875 by Gustave Caillebotte. This painting is a depiction of the early urban working class with three semi nude floor planers working on their hands and knees scraping the floor. You can see the daylight entering the room from the window in the far left of the painting. The painting has many floor scraping tools seen in the image. I personally don’t think there is a political or social message in this painting, except for maybe a social message with the idea that middle class people are hard working. Gustave Caillebotte focuses on the actions of the floor scrapers and the tools and techniques of the floor scrapers. Their environment and tools make this urban middle class working painting realistic.
“The Stone Breakers” by Gustave Courbet 1849 (65 in x 94 in)
The second painting I chose from the Realist style in the Romantic Era was painted by Gustave Courbet in 1849. This painting is The Stone Breakers. I chose this painting because like The Floor Scrapers this image depicts the hard working middle class. Gustave Courbet painted his stonebreakers to represent workers as he had seen them. This image depicts two ordinary peasant workers, one too young for hard labor work and the second too old for hard labor work. This painting has no political or heroic meaning, just a social meaning to depict the everyday lives of hard workers. Gustave Courbet wanted to show what was occurring at the time by painting a scene of two men breaking stones beside the road. Their clothes are ill fitting and torn so we can see they are not of high class, perhaps not even middle class. There are many little details in this painting to give us a better understanding of the two stone breakers' lives. By the shading used in the younger stone breaker's arm to the left we can easily depict that the basket of stones he is carrying must be heavy. We can also spot a cooking pot and spoon in the center right of the painting which could depict that the stone breakers are out there all day and have to cook their lunch. This painting is characterized as a realist style from the tiny details of the stone breakers, this image shows urban proletariat.
Impressionist Style
The Impressionism style was during the Romantic era along with the Realist style. Impressionism was developed in France during the 19th century and is based on the practice of painting outdoor scenes and spontaneous “on the spot”. Impressionist artists practiced that painting style rather than in a studio sketching, many of them painted everyday life, landscapes, and scenes. Impressionism was developed by Claude Monet and other Paris-based artists from the early 1860s (Tate). Impressionists found that they could capture the effects of sunlight by working quickly out in the open air. This resulted in a greater use of light, color, and the shifting pattern in natural scenes.
“Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and her Son” by Claude Monet 1875 (39 in x 32 in)
The first painting I chose from the Romantic era and Impressionism style was Woman with a Parasol - Madame Monet and her son by Claude Monet in 1875. Claude Monet actually painted his wife Camille and their son while they were out for a stroll during a sunny windy day. The artist Claude Monet captured this moment by painting his wife and their son standing on a small hill, we can tell they are standing on a hill from the position Camille and their son Jean are looking toward Monet. In the bottom half of the painting is a field with yellow wildflowers and grass. Madame Monet is wearing a light colored dress and jacket on top, Jean is standing close and wearing a light blue shirt. Based on the shadow of Madame Monet in flowers below her we know that the sunlight is coming from the top right of the painting. We can also depict that there is strong wind happening from the way her veil is painted in her face, the shape of her dress, and the movement of the flowers on the hill. This painting by Claude Monet is characterized as an impressionist style painting during the Romantic Era because of the painting being done outside and on the spot. We also can characterize this painting as an impressionist style from the light shades and the tiny swift brushstrokes used to create this. Brushwork was used rapidly and in small to large separate dabs to create that flowing quality of light work.
“Sewing the Sail” by Joaquin Sorolla 1896 (222 cm x 300 cm)
I really like the Impressionist pieces you chose to focus on. You get such a strong sense of natural light and space in both of them, and it's really beautiful. The attention to light is so strong it almost seems as if they could be blurry photographs. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love the choices you picked for the Impressionist style. You did a great job providing the information on the paintings. It's easy to follow along and I actually learned more about both art styles.
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