Impressionism
Unit 5 IP
Michele Jones
HUMA205
American InterContinental University
August 22, 2013

Abstract
When artists decided to paint “impressions” of what the eye actually sees, rather than what the mind knows, is when Impressionism was born. This paper will examine three works of art from the Impressionist Era. The works will be compared in regards to styles and content, also aesthetic qualities and any possible symbolic significance.

Impressionism Impressionism is a style of art that allows the artists to paint “impressions” of what the eye actually sees, rather than what the mind knows. Artists often used small dabs of color that appear merely as separate strokes of paint when seen close up, yet become lively depictions of subjects when seen at a distance (Frank, 2011). The Impressionist movement transformed French painting in the second half of the nineteenth century (Auricchio, 2004).
[pic]
The Arrival of the Normandy Train, by Claude Monet The Arrival of the Normandy Train, by Claude Monet is an Impressionist style painting. The artists attempt to capture the subjective impression of light in a scene (Artcylopedia, n.d.). It is typical of Impressionist artists to use modern life as there subjects, in this painting Monet is capturing a day at a train station. The shape of the train station and the billowing smoke from the trains keep bringing the viewers eyes up to the center of the painting. Although there are people on the sides of the trains, the key figure of the painting is the station itself. With the prominent brush strokes, classic of the Impressionist style, Monet lets the viewers mind fill in the details. Monet was the leader in Impressionistic art, the period was actually named from his piece called Impression, Sunrise. Impressionist artists oppose academic doctrines