Art Analysis: Romantic Era, Pre-Raphaelite vs Impressionism

    During the Romantic art period, many art styles rose to prominence and popularity. Two of which are the Pre-Raphaelite style and Impressionism. Pre-Raphaelite originated from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848, a group of young British painters who reacted against the Royal Academy's "unimaginative and artificial" paintings. They created pieces that focused on "new moral seriousness and sincerity," inspired by 14th and 15th-century Italian art. Qualities in their style included sharp lighting, a clear atmosphere, and a nearly photographic detailing of minute aspects. Their name came from a focus on pre-renaissance art, especially pre-Raphael, so they created a lot of religious and medieval-like works (Britannica). 

    Impressionism originated with a series of Parisian artists, like Claude Monet, in 1860s France. They wanted independence from the only art salon of the time, so they created their first independent exhibit in 1874 Paris. At first, the style was ridiculed by critics, but now it's recognized for its modernity (Samu). It focused on painting outdoors and "spontaneously 'on the spot' rather than in a study with sketches" (Tate). Landscapes and scenes of everyday life made up a majority of impressionist paintings. It demonstrated techniques like "broken brushstrokes that barely conveyed forms, pure unblinded colors, and an emphasis on the effects of light" (Samu). The artists tended to paint values with colors instead of neutral whites, greys, or blacks.

Pre-Raphaelite:

(Waterhouse, John William, The Lady of Shalott, 1888)

   Waterhouse painted The Lady of Shalott in oil on a 153 x 200 cm canvas in 1888 as part of the Pre-Raphaelite revival. Though it's not pure Pre-Raphaelite, the foreground reeds are "looser" compared to original works. Waterhouse was partially inspired by impressionist values at the time. It depicts the ending death of the Lady of Shalott from Lord Alfred Tennyson's Arthurian poems. She's attempting to escape her curse within a tower by boating to knight Lancelot. Within the boat, she holds her woven tapestry and looks upon a crucifix and blown-out candles which signify her incoming doom (Portugeis).

    Waterhouse uses color, shape, and space to create incredible realism and a sense of mourning. The woman is the only constant of mono colors in this piece, the rest is murky and well blended to look real. The vibrant whiteness of the woman's dress alludes to her innocence in the story, while the vibrancy of her tapestry alludes to the liveliness and longing for life she had in the tower. The boat and woman are of realistic proportions and shape. Though they are rigidly and still shaped, possibly alluding that the woman has already resigned herself to her death. The spacing of this piece also helps the feeling of resignment she gives off. The boat is away from the background trees and ground, she is far from life. The closest piece of nature is the dark, murky depths of the river below. 

(Millais, John Everett, Christ in the House of His Parents, 1849-50)

    Sir Millais painted Christ in the House of His Parents in oil on an 864 x 1397 cm canvas. Similarly to Carravagio, the painting depicts realistically depicts Christ as a child in a mid-19th century carpenter's workshop. Christ is comforted by Mary as he displays a wounded hand to her and the audience, this and the drop of blood on his feet hint at his future death and crucifixion. There are a lot of other aspects that allude to Christ's death, John the Baptist is on the right carrying a bowl of water, there are open nails around, and a dove (the Holy Spirit) rests upon a ladder. Which is similar to earlier paintings of Christians bringing Christ down the cross via a ladder. Upon release, this piece caused problems with Victorian by depicting religious figures ungracefully, unceremoniously, and in a harsh light of reality (Easby).

    Sir Millais uses value, texture, and line to make the painting feel alive and occupied. The value is extremely bright and vividly illuminates everything in the painting. Which sweeps away the "spiritual darkness" of the divine figures (Easby). It harshly blanches them in daylight and realism. The texture of the wood grains, the sawdust-covered floor, and dirty clothes make the scene seem extremely inhabited, thus making it more real. It looks like people have lived and worked there for years. There are obvious lines that give the building and table structure. But there are also invisible lines of a triangle that connect the figures similarly to Renaissance triangles, except it's in antithesis to it at the same time. Christ and Madonna, the most important Christian figures, are squarely at the bottom of the triangle instead of at the top, which lowers them to reality, and the Holy Spirit representative is in the background so barely with them in the composition.

    Would I want these pieces of art? No, not really. The hyper-realism of Pre-Raphaelite is amazing to view and appreciate, but I'm uninterested in the subject matter, the "hardness" of the style, and realism can be boring after a while. Impressive? Yes. Engaging? No, not to me. 

Impressionism:

(Monet, Claude, Impression, Sunrise, 1872)

    Monet painted Impression, Sunrise in oil on a 48 x63 cm canvas as part of the premier 1874 exhibition of Impressionism. It's widely regarded as the painting that established Impressionism as a new art style since it shocked critics and the name "Impressionism" came from a review mocking the piece (Gleeson). It depicts the morning sunrise in the Port of Le Havre. "Three fishing boats float into the distance, where construction of a dock is visible through the morning mist" as the warm, orange sun breaks through the hazy morning fog and reflects off the calm port waters (Gleeson). This is one of several dockside pieces Monet painted as he experimented with the new "en plein air ('in open air')" art technique(Gleeson). The Industrial Revolution helped cause this technique to arise by developing new art tools, such as modern collapsable paint tubes. 

    Monet's use of texture, color, and shape makes the piece feel like a surreal snapshot of life. The texture from the light, visible brush strokes hazes most semblance of structure. Which dulls viewers' analytical brains and forces them to feel the aura of the scene more intensely. The texture is airy and eerie. The coloring is vibrant and cool, there's very little blending to it. Monet uses "a cool color palette to evoke the essence of a moment:... ...Monet depicts the calm, misty start to a busy day at the sea port" (Gleeson). The barely visible shapes of the ships and dockside give just enough structure to the painting, that viewers can ground the scene as a landscape. The shapes are boxy and rigid, but they are enshrouded in the fog which devalues their relevancy to the main objective of the piece. The surreal impression of a dock just waking up. 

(Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Bal du moulin de la Galette, 1876)

    Renoir painted Bal du moulin de la Galette in oil on a 131 x 175 cm canvas. It was displayed as part of the Third Impressionist Exhibit held in 1877. It depicts middle-class people in a beer hall, socializing, dancing, and flirting (Harris and Zucker). So during its initial exhibition, it helped align Impressionism with the public by showing working-class people in recreation to working-class people. Instead of the hierarchy and bureaucracy of the Art Academy. It's similar to Monet's Impression, Sunrise, as it captures a single visual moment but unlike Monet's piece, it moment is joyous, lively, and of leisure. The crowd is boisterously chattering, a few couples are dancing, and one woman is casually resting her hand on another as she flirts with a man in the foreground. 

    Renoir's use of value, texture, and space gives the impression of warmth, community, and happiness. Renoir's values are rich and bright. The way the light illuminates the park makes it feel warm and realistic (even under the impressionist style). The crowd is shadowed by trees with dapples of light spotting their skin and clothes. It's especially prominent on the man with his back turned in the foreground. Like other impressionist works, the texture is feathery and there are visible brush strokes that create a blurs clarity. Which ironically helps to blend the crowd together, not in form but in passion. The spacing, or lack of negative space, helps the scene feel more alive and bustling. The people are crowded together in a frenzy of leisure and camaraderie. Like in a real-life market, there's little room for a main figure or focus on a character, everybody is equally important and busy here. Where there is negative space, it surrounds dancing couples, joined in the energy and spirit of dance and they are slightly out of focus in the midground. 

    Would I want these pieces? Most definitely. I like the surreal aspect of Impressionism, having a style that forces me to "feel" it more than analyze helps me understand art better. However, I do prefer Bal du moulin de la Galette over Impression, Sunrise, I enjoy the depiction of the lively crowd over the slightly somber morning docks. 

Works Cited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood". Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Sep. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/art/Pre-Raphaelite-Brotherhood. Accessed 28 October 2024.

Easby, Rebecca  Jeffrey. “Sir John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents.” Smarthistory Sir John Everett MillaisChrist in the House of His Parents Comments, 9 Aug. 2015, smarthistory.org/millais-christ-in-the-house-of-his-parents/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2024.

Gleeson, Maura. “Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise.” Smarthistory, 8 Aug. 2023, smarthistory.org/claude-monets-impression-sunrise/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2024.

Harris, Beth, and Steven Zucker. “Auguste Renoir, Moulin de La Galette.” Smarthistory, 27 Nov. 2015, smarthistory.org/auguste-renoir-moulin-de-la-galette/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

Portugeis, Chloe. “John William Waterhouse, the Lady of Shalott.” Smarthistory John William Waterhouse The Lady of Shalott Comments, 9 Aug. 2015, smarthistory.org/waterhouse-the-lady-of-shalott/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2024.

Samu, Margaret. “Impressionism: Art and Modernity: Essay: The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Oct. 2004, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.

Tate. “Impressionism.” Tate, 2024, www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/impressionism#:~:text=Impressionism%20developed%20in%20France%20in,and%20scenes%20of%20everyday%20life. Accessed 28 Oct. 2024.