100 WORDS EACH
what interested or surprised you about the movements?
What are your own interpretations on the specific pieces your peers chose to critique?
The two movements I chose to compare are Romanticism and Abstract Expressionism. Romanticism is an artistic and intellectual movement that started in Europe in the late 1700s, characterized by the expression of emotions and imagination as stated in
www.thefreedictionary.com/romantic&art . Romanticism spread throughout both Europe and the US. The artists who included, Thomas Cole, Francesco Hayez, Ivan Aivazosky, Theodore Gericault, John Constable, and William Blake just to name a few emphasized that sense and emotions were just as important as reason and understanding and experiencing the world. (www.theartstory.org/movement-romanticism.htm) . Romanticism characteristics are experimentation with a poetic form, Nature, Ruins and Relics from ancient pasts, Rebellion, Heroism, Emotions, Sense and sensuality. Romanticism has nothing to do with romance but for ones passion, sensitivity and imagination, it deals with the artists spiritual connection. John Gast American Progress shows what it looks like to be an angel floating over a field of people as more like a guardian, or Delacroixs Liberty Guiding the People looks as though it is showing that even though there are men on the battle field dead we can still over come and be triumphant. (https://www.invaluable.com/blog/romanticism) Techniques used were small close strokes of complementing colors to create a more brilliant vivid effect. Unrefined outlines, unrestrained brushstrokes, and the emphasis on color over form makes the painterly style the choice of the romantics. (https://www.invaluable.com/blog/romanticism) Abstract Expressionism Flourished around 1943, and shifted artwork from Europe to NY post war. (https://metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abex/hd-abex.htm) This type of art work included artists such as Willem De Kooning, Elaine De Kooning, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, and Helen Frankenhaler. There were considered two types of abstract expressionism, The action painters who attacked their canvas with expressive strokes of the brush and Field Painters who filled the canvas with one color in larger areas. (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/abstract-expressionism). Abstract Expressionism compromises diverse styles and techniques, emphasizing an artists liberty to convey their attitudes and emotions through nontraditional means. Both Romanticism and Abstract Expression are allowing the artists to show emotions through their artwork, Romanticism paying more attention to the detail of the work provided and Abstract Expressionism showing how hey feel through colors and patterns. The picture below show the difference between Action and field painters, you can see the emotion in both pictures and can almost feel what the painter is trying to convey. De Koonings painting looks to be of a women and in my opinion she has a lot going on both in life and in her head, I can relate. Pollocks painting looks as though he is going through a dark time and used neutral colors to show the world may not be so bright right now. The field painting looks as though there may be a rough patch but there are blue skies coming.
I decided to chose impressionism and neoclassicism.Impressionism came about within the mid 19th century.This type of painting was considered untraditional in many ways compared to neoclassicism.With impressionism, artists would paint in ephemeral moment in time on the canvas: the impression in order to seize the moment.Neoclassicism was just the opposite.This style of painting was inspired by historic and antique marks in time that were produced with architecture and artwork. Claude Monet was the mastermind behind the French Impressionism Movement.He was well known as one of the first artists to develop the impressionism style.His painting the Westminster Bridge was inspired by observation.This type of observation he would give the bridge was over an amount of time so that he was able to capture the raw moment of the bridge.By focusing on light strokes, natural light and loose handling of the paint brush, Claude Monet was able to paint a clear illustration of the waves movement in the water, the shadows of the buildings hiding in the mist, and the distinct light strokes he displayed. Neoclassicism was just the opposite, capturing a historic moment unlike impressionism that captured the present.The artist Benjamin West, depicted this stylistic movement very well with his painting the Death of General Wolfe.The background behind this piece of artwork was to display a historic moment within the seven year war between the United States and the French.The painting displays realistic moments in history when General Wolfe was dying in the battlefield surround by his colleagues and officers alike.The dark colors in the photo are displaying a sense of sadness (death) but in the midst of the dark colors, General Wolfe is shown to be the center of attention through the soft light that makes him seemed enlighten.
