So the question is, Impressionism love it or hate it? I love it!! Impressionism is an art movement that originated in Paris in the 19th century. The name of the style derives from Claude Monet’s Soleil Levant ( Impression, Sunrise) artwork as reviewed by critic Louis Leroy in a satirical review. Impressionist painters new techniques to show movement, candid poses, and lighting expressed in bright colors.
Claude Monet, Impression Sunrise ( 1873)
In Monet’s Impression Sunrise we can see the sun and it’s contrast against both the water below and the clouds above which show the transitory effects of light and weather ( the favorite subject matter for impressionist painters.) The reason why I say I love impressionism is because this is when art began to focus on other subject matters outside of history, religion, and classical antiquities. This truly makes nearly every person that looks at the artwork have their own meaning about the painting, since no history event or religious figure is painted here.
Claude Monet, La Promenade, La femme a l’ombrelle (1875)
This is another of my favorite pieces by Monet, the painting is Monet’s wife and son taking a walk on a Sunday morning. I enjoy the lighting in this piece and the way that the lady casts a shadow over the grass and how her dress appears to become part of the clouds. I also enjoy the way the umbrella changes the lighting on the lady’s face and we see darker colors in comparison to that of the boy.
If we compare Monet’s work with Northern Rennaissance painter Hans Baldung’s Saint John on Patmos (1511) we see the difference in lighting and the way that the outdoors are depicted. Monet’s paintings seem realistic, a good comparison is for those that wear glasses ( myself included) when we forget our glasses and go out into the world, we see everything a bit blurry but are able to make out color, place, and subject matter. This is the best way I could explain a Monet piece since saying blurry alone just doesn’t cut it. When we look at Baldung’s painting, everything is as clear as day but it does not seem realistic, why?? I believe is the lighting, color, and subject matters displaying a very “cartoonish” appearance, the detail alone does not make it seem real. This is why I enjoy Impressionism and can count myself part of the group that its not just ok with it, but part of the group that loves it.
Hans Baldung, Saint John on Patmos (1511)
Do you want to paint like Monet?? See this video to learn how.
Sources used:
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Saint John on Patmos, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Metmuseum.org. Web. 11/2013
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1983.451
Impressionism. Wikipedia.org. Web 7/12/2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism
Color Vision & Art, Claude Monet’s Impression Sunrise. Webexhibits.org. Web. n/a
http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/monet.html
Painting All, Claude Monet- The Walk – Woman with a Parasol. Paintingall.com. Web. n/a
http://www.paintingall.com/oscar-claude-monet-the-walk-woman-with-a-parasol.html
erickdanez 
Monet was such an awesome artist. All of his works are so beautiful. I really love the paintings you chose for you blog. Especially the painting of Monet’s son and wife. You’re right; her dress totally merges together with the clouds. I like impressionism style more than any of the previous styles we learned about because, like you mentioned, the point of the art was to be perceived differently by each person who comes across it. Thanks for sharing the video but even with those tips, I still will never be able to paint like Monet!
I also really enjoyed this art period. The Impressionist style was very unique in the way the colors and paintings when together. This time period was so much different than the Baroque and the Renaissance. Very interesting blog !