The two historical art periods I chose to discuss are Impressionism and Post Impressionism. Impressionism occurred during the elate 19th century in France from 1874 – 1882. During this historic time period paintings were done in quick movements with lift and vibrant colors. Artists used thick strokes of paint and left brush strokes to vie paintings new dimensions. During this time period nature influenced these artist the most. The traditional government paintings were rejected by Impressionism artist in lieu of paintings that expressed the light and beauty of nature. The Impressionism movement was launched by Eduoard Manet, Edgar Degas, Claude Moent, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Mary Cassatt. Together they formed the group known as the Anonymous Society of Painters. They revolutionized Western conceptions of painting. Although they were collectively known as the Anonymous Society of painters they were independent paints with different approaches to their style of painting. They were all however, criticized for the finish of their work which appeared to be sketch like.

Their subjects were commonplace including landscapes, leisure and recreation in open air or “en plein air” settings, using quick and spontaneous brushstrokes to depict the fluctuation of light. Their subjects were captured by observation rather than idealization and they sought to capture typical moments in life with no moral message, rather than poses or dramatic scenes. They put special emphasis on and paid attention to the effects of light, atmosphere and movement using bold treatments in form of color and space. Japanese wood block prints influenced many of the Impressionists, as did photography. They added interesting perspectives such as from above, tilted or cropped. They also developed a new practice called “optical mixing” where they placed the colors side by side on the canvas allowing