Impressionism and Post Impressionism

Impressionism started in 1860s in Europe. The impressionist artists began to paint the world around them instead of the stories that the realist and romantic artists imagined. Many impressionists painted outdoors to capture ever-changing qualities of nature. Impressionists also painted society, especially the middle-class, in everyday activities. Some qualities that be became much more popular during this time are quick brush strokes and the cropped edges that cut off parts of the subject, also known as free form. Below you can see Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies by Claude Monet which employed the use of quick, short brush strokes.

Post-Impressionism began in the late 1800s and had a similar style to Impressionism but the emotion behind the art was different. Post-Impressionists continued to look at their surroundings but believed that there is a deeper meaning past the objective observations of the Impressionists. Non-western cultures began to have a big impact on Western artists of this time. This can be seen in the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, for example, who all used flat shapes typically seen in Japanese art. The Boy in the Red Vest by Paul Cézanne is an example of post-impressionism and one can see the sorrow behind it and the stylistic lack of depth. 

Design Elements and Principles

1. Artists can unify their artwork by using a repetition of shapes or colors to create patterns that . An example of a piece of art that uses repetition is The Migration Gained in Momentum  by American artist Jacob Lawrence. The black, green, and red clothes and luggage create a sense of unity throughout the painting. The identical walking shape of the human figures also add on to unity in the painting. These two ways of expressing unity help convey that the people shown in the painting had to stick together and rely on each other while making their way to the northern part of America during the Great Migration.

2. Asymmetry is created by putting objects in positions that balance out with objects on the other areas of the artwork. The size and color of these objects can also affect where the objects are placed. Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night is an example of an asymmetric painting. The bright yellow moon in the top right balances out the much larger and darker cypress tree on the left. The town on the bottom and the stars on the top also contribute to the artwork's asymmetrical balance. The scattered stars counter act the much more compact buildings, attracting the viewers' eyes equally.

3. Scale can be used to create an illusion or image that would not have the same impact if made to normal scale. Scale is often implemented by making objects very large or very small. Claes Oldenburg and Cloosje van Nruggen's Knife Slicing Through Wall depicts an 11 ft. long knife seemingly cutting through a wall. The size of the knife allows the artists to poke fun at and emphasize the building's unique architecture.