Paul Cezanne

Mid-Term Art-History

Part 1-definition

1) Realism:

Realism is an artistic movement that started in France in the 1850s, after the 1848 revolution. It is an artistic style that is characterized by the depiction of subjects and landscapes as they appear through the eye. It grew from the idea that "art is meant to record the real world". Realist painters, as Gustave Courbet once said in the words "show me an angel, and I'll paint you one", believed that artists should paint their own world, otherwise this part of history might be lost forever.

For instance, Courbet, who is considered one of the most accepted ambassadors of realism, produced " Stone-breakers" in 1849. In it, Courbet depicts two mundane, stone breakers -an adult and a child- in order to reflect of the hardship of the most common labors of the time. This theme can be seen through the quality of their jeans, ripped shirts, and positions. The shadows and strokes of sunlight also amplifies the hard conditions under which those two people are working. Moreover, the change in tone colors and the inclusion of darker areas give a 3-dimensional feeling to the painting, a style that emerged through realism. Finally, the subjects in "Stone-breakers" are all unknown to the general public: they represent ordinary people. In lieu, Courbet, in "Stone-breakers", critics the social injustice that prevails in Paris in the late 1800s. The two lower-class man are working under uncomfortable conditions, and at low wages, to build the pavements of the beautiful tomorrow of Paris.

Thus, Courbet, like other realist artists, painted everyday life situations and ordinary people. That way, they were able to produce paintings that picture the struggles of life brought by the industrial and commercial revolutions, including social and economic injustice. Moreover, realist paintings are often characterized by the modes through which shadows were drawn, the use of dull colors that do change, and the angle-view perspective. Realism is an art movement that was started in response to romanticism; in fact, realism opposes romanticism, for its emotional exaggeration and painting of classical forms.

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2) Isocephaly:

Isocephaly is an artistic style that started in ancient Greek art. It consisted of unifying a group of people by positioning their heads on a painting at the same level through a linear perspective, regardless of their heights. The high renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci employed this style in "The Last Supper" (1948)- Convent Sta. Maria Delle Grazie, Milan, Italy- to draw the viewer's attention to Jesus (ArtHD, 2010)

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3) Impressionism:

Impressionism is an art movement that started in the 19th century. It is considered the cradle of other movement, including post-impressionism, fauvism, and cubism. Impressionism disregarded the rules f traditional academic art, and exhibited independently, at the "Salon des Refusés".

Impressionist art is particular in that it focuses on the effects of colors and lights as opposed to drawing if lines. It also often depicts common situation and ordinary subjects at unusual visual angles and with small, thin, visible brush strokes. In lieu, impressionism aims to capture what the eye sees and perceives as opposed to the characteristics of the subject drawn. Moreover, impressionist painting have a sketch-like, unfinished feeling. This can be seen"Impression, Soleil Levant", which was painted in 1872 by Claude Monet. It is said that the impressionist movement was named after this painting. Even though Impressionism received poor accepted at first, the general public started to consider her as a new, original style in subsequent years, from the 1874 and on.

"Impression, Soleil Levant" was painted in 1872 by Claude Monet. It depicts the image of a boat on a lake at sunset. There is very few lines in this painting, the the soft brush strokes applied are still visible. One can see the effects of the yellow-orange light and the movement of the waves as well as the smoke coming from the other boats, which appear on the background. "Impression, Soleil Levant" provides a view of this common landscape in a way that photography at that time couldn't. This work was also made with the use of tube painting and complementary colors. Hence, it gave its name to the movement it represented. Even though Claude Monet did not paint outdoor, he contributed significantly to the emergence of the impressionist movement.

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4) En plein air.

En plein air is an expression derived from French. It literally means" in open air". In art, it refers to the practice of painting outdoor, a style that became a characteristic of the impressionist movement in the 19th century. This practice became popular with the introduction of tube painting, but most importantly with the increasing tendency to capture the effect of light and movement in impressionist paintings.

The artwork entitled "Artists Sketching in the White Mountains", which was produced by Winslow Homer in 1868, provides an image of what painting en plein air is. It depicts a man painting on a canvas on top of a mountain.

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5) Complementary Colors

In color theory, there are three different categories of colors: primary, secondary, and complementary. Primary colors include red, blue, and yellow; and secondary colors are colors obtained by mixing two primary colors: orange, yellow, and purple. Finally, complementary colors are colors that are used to create the shadow of objects in arts. While primary complementary colors results from the mixing of the other two primary colors, primary secondary colors is the primary color that was not use to produce it. From instance, the complementary color of orange is blue. This can be seen in"The Luncheon on the Grass" , which was painted by Edouard