Week 3 Blog Post

Impressionism was based in the 19^th century by a group of artists originating from Paris. The characteristics of impressionist paintings are the noticeable brush strokes. The strokes are very thin and small. The subject matter of these people usually included people of the city life involved in an everyday event.

Moulin De La Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renior is an impressionism piece that at first glance has so many different things going on. All the figures and actions drew me into this piece and I had to take a closer glance. The thin almost sporadic brush strokes, the faint coloring, the details in the figures. Initially when I looked at this piece I had a feeling of happiness and an overwhelming feeling towards their carefree world, just an eventful night in Paris. I chose to first look at the facial features of the figures in the scene. I noticed no smile being prominent in their features. I seemed as if this was a casual event that happened often amongst these people. Their faces showed content in their slight upturned lips. 

Another aspect I was drawn to in this piece was the classic attribute of the impressionist style, the brushstrokes. There were the noticeable brushstrokes with no real definition in the scene. Definition varied in the faces and throughout the scene. That is what I found interesting about this piece, all impressionist pieces for that matter. There are features lost in the brush strokes whereas in some figures, usually in the foreground, there are distinct features. The lines are thin and sporadically placed.

Like I had mentioned before when I first looked at this piece I thought it was a night in Paris. Taking a closer look I realized it’s in fact a party of upperclassmen taking place in the daytime. I noticed the shadows on the figures displaying the sunlight coming through the foliage above the party. I first thought theses were reflections from party lights strung across the sky. I also noticed in the left corner two children dancing amongst these upperclassmen. This brought a sense of innocence to the party and changed my thought of this piece being a flirtation of people at a business party to more laid back party of sorts where children’s company could be enjoyed.

The dimension of this piece shows various details. We see dancing men and woman in the foreground with slightly more distinct features, but as we look farther in the distance we see a mix of brush strokes that can barely be distinguished as more people. The colors fade together as one mass. I see scale come into the piece through the figures. The proportion of the figures whether in the foreground or background are proportionate to one another. Although as I looked farther into the scene I noticed one the figures began to bland together they all became on set size in the piece. The couple in the right hand upper corner for example seem to be sharing the same ground as the couple with their back turned in the middle of the painting, but they are noticeably smaller and show more detail than those figures around them. The mixture of softer almost pastel colors of purple, blacks, and blues. Colors of which almost gave me the impression of nighttime. Colors that on further looking in fact give the piece a soft, charming feel to the event that is taking place. Another thing that changed my view of this piece is when I started to notice the oranges and greens in piece. This discovery also changed the look of night to day. This is when I started noticing the richness in the colors.

Impressionism, to me, doesn’t take care to include great detail in its style. The artists of this time moved through their work taking more attention to the story of the piece rather than the distinguished lines. The brushstrokes are what I find more interesting. They are thin as if to make great details, but the noticeable strokes is what seems to bring the emotion into the painting. As if while the artist was painting their emotions took hold of the brush rather than the determination to be exact in every movement. We can feel what emotion the story holds through the lines of the figures. This particular piece for example displays joy and carelessness amongst these upperclassmen with out a concern in the world.