Impressionist style is very unique. The style is not ordinary when one is to think of art work. The style is obscure and has some nice visual aspects of it in my opinions. The style of painting is defined by loose brush strokes, vague lines, and very obscure angles within the painting themselves. Not everything is perfectly straight and I feel like that is why I’m drawn to the paintings. It has a sense of movement and I like movement. Not only is the individual aspects of the paintings amazing, but the subject matter is also very nice in its ways. It wasn’t that the matter was very drastic in change but it was portrayed in such a unique way that it really captures the viewers eye. I can understand why some may not enjoy the Impressionistic style of painting because they see it as imperfect but I see differently.
Claude Monet is one of my favorite artists from the Impression period. There is one painting, actually a series of paintings that caught my attention. He painted a lot of the same scene but at different lightings and different times of the year. That same area experiences so many weather changes as well as light changes that it will never look exactly the same. That is what intrigued my about these paintings. The subject matter stayed the same while the lighting and scene changed a little each time. It gave the viewer a view of the entire area as he painted left and he painted right.
Grainstacks at Giverny, sunset, 1888-1889,
Claude Monet
This is one of the paintings in his series titled Haystack. This is one of my favorite ones as there is just so many colors representing the scene and the sunset gives it that colorful vibe. The rolling hills in the background and the colorful sky representing the sunset are amazing. The impressionist period is really shown in this painting with the obscure curved lines and use of loose brush strokes. The grainstacks almost seem to be not the focus of the painting but the surroundings are what catch my eye and bring them in to the stacks.
Here is one in an opposite time of the year when there is snow on the stacks.
Grainstacks, White Frost Effect, 1889
Claude Monet
Image from http://www.wikiart.org/en/claude-monet/grainstacks-white-frost-effect
This painting shows the scene with a snow covered ground. I definitely like the sunset better mainly because the use of colors is more appealing to the eye, but I like the idea of painting two different scenes at the same place. The white scene is unique because the background is all white except for the grainstacks which makes them really pop. Alaska is a place where the scenery changes a lot, there is all white and bare trees to green trees and beautiful wild flowers. This scene depicts a lot with the haystacks. I think it is important to note the fact that Claud Monet painting a lot of these paintings at this location from the time 1888 to 1891. The series contains 25 canvas paintings so it would be a little difficult to show all 25 on here. Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haystacks_(Monet_series), as wikipedia does a good job at showing all 25 paintings if anyone is intersted.
Works cited:
The Key to Happiness is Music and Art 