Blog Post #4 Impressionism
The Impressionistic style is a favorite of mine so far. I think that it was the first big step away from painting portraits and into a time of painting subjects that focused on weather and amusements/pastimes. The style moved away from subject matter such as history, antiquities, and religion and focused more heavily on pleasant matters. I appreciate this in art. The painting Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose by John Singer Sargent is a good example of the style the impressionists used. I love the tonal colors in the painting and the pleasant mood of the subject. Another good example of the impressionist style is the painting Dance at the Moulin de la Gallete by Pierre-August Renoir. This painting is a good representation of the style because it clearly represents the activities/pastimes of the middle class, as they are enjoying some sort of festival or party, and the emotion of the subjects is very much pleasant. I enjoy the colors and the business that is shown in the painting. The colors used in these paintings are much more realistic than those that are used in the previous era we studied, the Classical era. Many artists of previous eras preferred to use pastel colors and fantastical subject matters, along with portraiture. I enjoy the more realistic colors and subject matter which is a major focus of the impressionistic artists. A good example of the pastel colors and portraiture of the classical era that differs greatly from the impressionistic era is the painting Bath of Diana by Francois Boucher. This is a painting that I don’t particularly appreciate for the previous stated reasons. I think that the Impressionistic era was a great step towards modern art.
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
By: John Singer Sargent
1885-1886
London
http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/Carnation_Lily_Lily_Rose.htm
Dance at the Moulin de La Gallete
Pierre-August Renoir
1876
Paris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bal_du_moulin_de_la_Galette
Bath of Diana
Francois Boucher
1742
Louvre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Boucher_Diane_sortant_du_bain_Louvre_2712.jpg
danielleh 
Great job, your post went into nice detail about Impressionism, you did very well explaining how your examples showed characteristics of this style. I also really like Impressionism, I enjoy the subject matter and think most Impressionist works are just nice to look at. Well done, you hit all the assignment requirements.