The Impressionists were concerned with luxury lifestyle. They loved the beauty of nature that surrounded them, influencing them to think of painting the reality of events and appearance of things in life. Equally, their love for leisure is demonstrated by the interest they developed towards the changes on nature, weather, and atmosphere. It is as a result of this that the works of impressionists constituted mainly scenes of places and nature. Arguing that these artists were mainly concerned with paint instead of what they painted is inaccurate. These artists shifted from the previous paintings that took place in studios to paint the impression objects. In fact, they abandoned the clarity of form that characterized the traditional paintings to present real forms instead of idealized forms.
Claude Monet’s painting “Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare” is an excellent example of an impressionist painting that supports the assertion provided in the above paragraph. From the painting, one can note that Monet was presenting the real image of train station with a moving train. The claim is supported by the appearance of the roof of the station in the painting. Similarly, Monet painted a moving train since the dark-grey object produces steam that is trapped in the station. If Monet was concerned with just the paint, he would have avoided using different colors in this painting. Use of different colors in this painting enabled him to present four primary things. That is, the nature which includes the green appearance of the ground, the train which is dark-grey in color, the station which he constructed using different brushworks, and passengers queuing next to the train (Monet 1877). Based on Monet’s painting, it is evident that the Impressionists were mainly concerned with what they painted and not the paint.
Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare
Work Cited
Monet, Claude. Arrival of the Normandy Train, Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877. Web July 5, 2018. https://www.getdailyart.com/22079/arrival-of-the-normandy-train,-gare-saint-lazare
