Post Impressionism

     Impressionism is a style of painting developed in the last third of the 19th century to represent the effect of light on objects through short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition. Impressionism art focused more on what the eyes see rather than what the mind knows, according to the lecture Harmon Intro Impressionism Post Impressionism.Certain impressionism art had something called open form or “cropping the image” which is a form whose exterior is irregular or broken, having a sense of growth, change or unresolved tension; from in a state of becoming or reaching out.  

 This piece of impressionism artwork is called Melody of the Night by Leonid Afremov.

        Post-Impressionist believe in a free interpretation of nature, not to see things but to see through them to a significance in reality deeper than what superficial appearance gave according to the lecture.Post impressionism is a varied development of Impressionism by a group of painters chiefly between 1880 and 1900 stressing formal structure, as with Cézanne and Seurat, or the expressive possibilities of form and color, as with Van Gogh and Gauguin. These portraits were made in reaction to what these artists saw as the somewhat formless and aloof quality of Impressionist painting. This is also art created by French artists. These artists were considered “Beings of extraordinary insight, mysterious, visionary and fantastic. Post-impressionist used paint while other artist were using pencil, sketch, painting quickly and with a lot of rhythm.

      This piece of Post-Impressionism art is called Starry Fright by Vincent Van Gogh.

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Renaissance and Baroque

     This painting is called Hercules and Acheloüs and was created by Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem in 1590. Cornelisz van Haarlem was a Dutch artist in the Baroque time period and was one of the leading mannerist artists in the Netherlands. The size of the painting above is 75 5/8 x 96 in. and was made with oil on canvas. The painting provides a great deal of texture as well as the scale between Hercules and the gaint Antaeus and the nymphs in the background. This painting provides a great deal of amplified perspective, depth of space, and a high contrast of light & dark. Hercules and Acheloüs are shown with a "spotlight" on them while the rest of the portrait is darker in comparison. It is quite dramatic to see a man pinning a bull down with brute strength. It is truly a great work of art from the Baroque era. According to Ovid's popular Mtamorphoses, "the river god Achelous transformed himself into a bull in order to fight Hercules for the favors of princess Deianeira of Calydon. In the struggle one of his horns snapped off: nymphs in the right background fill it with flowers and fruit creating a cornucopia (horn of plenty)."In the background, you can see Hercules crushing the gaint Antaeus and slaying the Lernaean hydra.

     This painting is called the Portrait of a Man in Armor with Two Pages. This painting was made by Paris Boron who was an Italian artist in the 1500s. It was painted in 1548 in Venice. The size of this painting is 46 x 62 in and was made with oil on canvas. This painting provides a great deal of realism, directional lighting, and a dark theme. In this painting, one can see how the presumed officer is getting prepared in what seems to be an upcoming battle that's about to unfold. The scenery is quite dark and moody in which it gives an unpleasant feeling of sadness to the viewer. According to the Metropolitan Museum, "This painting shows a high-ranking officer with two pages, one of whom, an African, holds his helmet while the other fastens the armor on his right arm. The extensive landscape background, with stormy skies over the advancing armies, and the mood of melancholy are unique to Bordon. This work was much esteemed in the seventeenth century, when it was sold to Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici in Florence."