Question

HISTORY: What role does imagination play in your selection of Impressionism?

Answer 1

role does imagination play in your selection of Impressionism:

Impressionism was considered a radical departure from tradition. Looking back, we can see that Impressionism was more than a departure – It changed the very nature of the way people think about art today.

Thanks to all the very Impressionists for striving to push forward in what they believe in we would not have this very fine art style we call Impressionism today.

When the Impressionists began painting, Ideals of art were not only controlled, but also looked down upon and rejected by academic institutions such as the French academy of fine arts and the Salon, which had great power over the careers of artists.

Even through the hardships, the Impressionists did not give up on the art that they believed in.

By the end of the Impressionists period, artists felt liberated from strict rules or composition, subject matter and technique. They no longer depended on opinion of the Salon.

They were free to paint what they wanted, experiment with new technology, and pursue their own ideas and talent.

This independence was reflected in the art market, which saw the rise of private dealers and growing numbers of bourgeois collectors. This was the rising revolution of Art.

Direct Influence of Impressionism

Though he never exhibited with them, Van Gogh was influenced by his friendship with Impressionists. After seeing their paintings in Paris, he began to user brighter colors and broken brushstrokes. However he differed from them in one important way. As he wrote in 1888, “Instead of trying to render what I see before me, I use color in a completely arbitrary way in order to express myself powerfully”.

Vincent Van Gogh

(Dutch, 1853 - 1890)

Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, 1887

Oil on pasteboard

Later Influence of Impressionism

The Impressionists created a model for freedom and subjectivity that promoted artistic freedom that which many artists of the past longed for. Their example empowered later artists that took it much further than they did.

Due to the never ending supply of resources we have at our command in our present lives, art continues to expand and will still continue to grow and break limits that will fascinate people.

“ Impressionism is at the root of all modern art, because it was the first movement that managed to free itself from preconceived ideas, and because it changed not only the way life was depicted but the way life was seen”