Today’s recorded lecture began by discussing early photography and the first photographs. The invention of photography was a significant advancement for artists, and it allowed them to record reality easily. After wrapping up Realism, the lecture moved on to impressionism.
I really enjoy looking at the impressionist art. I find it to be very visually appealing and complex enough to maintain a viewer’s attention for a significant amount of time. I really enjoyed Claude Monet and his plein-air paintings. His ability to capture specific moments in an accurate manner is very impressive especially when compared to realist art. He has a unique style of divided brushstrokes, but this does not sacrifice other elements, such as lighting.
Monet’s series of Wheat Stacks and other haystack paintings show how he used different colors to create different feels and change the lighting. The lecture brought attention to how much color is used in the version set in the snow. This was particularly impressive as painting snow is incredibly challenging, especially when using so much color without making the snow look dirty.