Post #3

            When comparing Impressionist paintings versus other genres of paintings, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what defines this period as such an extravagant introduction of paintings.  One very famous painting that instantly caught my attention was A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte, by Georges Seurat.  However, I assume many others will discuss this painting since it is such a remarkable piece of art.  Therefore, I will be taking a further look at Gustave Caillebotte’s painting, Paris Street, Rainy Day (on page 991 of Stokstad) and look deeper at the formal elements that compose this piece.  A general overview first off, I think that the transition in the formal aspect is an interesting change of pace.  Certain characteristics have been withered away, such as the extreme attention to detail in art periods prior to the Impressionism movement.

 

            Something that has stuck out immediately to me was the variation of line and brush stroke techniques.  If we were to take a look at the Realism movement style lines, for example, the popular painting The Stone Breakers that we discussed last week during lecture.  In comparison to this painting, it is clear to see that each line is clearly defined; figures are almost outlined with lines, enhancing this piece with rich detail and smoothness.  On the contrary, within Impressionism pieces, we can easily decipher that most of the figures and buildings have no definite lines that build extreme emphasis towards the subject matter.  It is mostly composed of open brushstrokes with various amounts of shades that help build a sense of depth in the piece.  The thing I thought was really unique about this painting in particular is that if you glance at the painting in the book from a reasonable distance, it looks very detailed, crisp, and clean.  However, if you move your eyes closer to the book, you can see each individual brush stroke on the reflection of the street lamp behind the approaching figures and so forth.

            While most critics during this time commented on this emerging Impressionist style as fast, sloppy, and had the looks of being unfinished, I think there is a lot of complexity and dynamics that go into this certain style.  Since most of these stylized paintings contain the subject matter of outdoor objects or landscapes, the loose brushstrokes really help bring out the light and color to create more of an understanding of what the audience is really looking at, to not understand the subject matter, but to illustrate the rebirth of the techniques used in these paintings.  Even the dynamic of perspective and time helps create a real unique sense of feeling through their artwork, mostly consisting of everyday events, this piece in particular really brings forth and captures all the elements within the downtown streets of Paris.  The shades of color throughout the tile on the streets has deep contrast as well which helps add the element of depth as the detail fades from the brushstrokes in the distance.

            These elements within the unlooked style of Impressionism contain so many of the obscure compositions while retaining some of the most interesting overall pictures.  I personally think that the whole aspect of fast brushstrokes with the unfinished look appears more as excitement for me because it leaves a lot of imagination for the viewer to try and fill in the caps in their own mind.  The way it appears as almost photographic quality from a distance and then each brushstroke is revealed with closer viewing distance makes it very intriguing as well, allowing the audience to construct their own inferences based upon the composition.  Even the principle of using small canvases (not enormous sized) made it even more remarkable that artists were able to utilize such small space with varying strokes and color shades.  All of the colors are pretty controlled, since they help blend in the idea of depth and perception throughout the street-like setting, but they are all very realistic as in comparison to real life outdoor sceneries.  I think one of the greatest thing about this painting is the fact that the Caillebotte was able to make the sidewalk the figures are walking on appear to be wet.  By blending the reflection of the street light, it really adds a personalized feel to this painting that can only be appreciated from noticing the close individual brushstrokes.