At all times people tend to decorate their homes with art that correspond to their inner mood and feelings. Today besides abstractionism or photography, there are classical art movements that still fit modern people inner world perfectly.
In fact classic art is effective to reflect emotions in its viewers as it is understand by everyone, unlike abstract art which is more subtle. Also old masters style seems to be too static now and outrun by photography. Impressionism in its turn aims to highlight bright moments of a happy life – moments which most of people had experienced.
Essence of Impressionism
Often considered the first modern movement in painting, Impressionism was actually developed as a formal art practice in Paris in the 1860s prior to spreading throughout Europe and the US.
The students in the academies and the official Salon conveyed the three-dimensionality of forms by means of the subtle shading which was first perfected by the Renaissance masters. The Impressionists, on the other hand, evoked a sense of three-dimensionality by representing the dramatic contrasts of color which can be best observed in vibrant sunlight.
In seeking to capture visually the play of light and shadow and its transformations the Impressionists used rapid brushstrokes to produce paintings that looked rushed and unfinished as opposed to the well-rounded, glossy and polished forms and subtle shadings respected by the Academic system.
Similarly, rather than depicting a posed or characteristic angle of the objects painted, Monet and the Impressionists showed objects from uncharacteristic, and often, truncated perspectives. This truncation of subjects and objects, which is especially obvious in the paintings of Renoir and Degas, openly acknowledges the incompleteness of our field of vision and powers of representation.
A new way to see
In its day, Impressionism was considered a radical departure from tradition. Looking back, we can see that Impressionism was more than a departure – It changed the very nature of the way people think about art today.
This independence of Impressionists from official Salon and academies was reflected in the art market, which saw the rise of private dealers and growing numbers of bourgeois collectors. This was the rising revolution of Art. Painting of French impressionist were largely obtained by American private collectors at the first half of 20th century, which gave life to this art movement and it is sill very popular today.
To sum up, Impressionism is the root of all modern art, because it managed to release art from preconceived ideas, it changed not only the way life was depicted but the way life was seen.