When I studied European history in high school my favorite section was art history. We learned about Renaissance art, Baroque art, Impressionism, Realism, and Romanticism. My personal favorites were the French artists of the late 1800’s. There was something about them, they looked for freedom and change. Just as the world was changing they also wanted something different, something new, something better. They eventually created the art movement known as Impressionism. Unlike previous art movements, Impressionism was about painting the moment. It was all about painting the exact image you saw the second your eyes laid on it, and then completing that painting in one sitting. Impressionists captured the true beauty and color of their scenes whereas past artists painted their personal distorted view of a scene.
It was the first time I entered a museum on my own terms and boy was I happy I chose the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At first I wandered around the first floor seeking anything of interest, but nothing grabbed my attention. I quickly became bored and tired and so decided to stroll around Central Park for a few hours. It was calming and relaxing, and by the time I got back to the MET I was ready to look closer. My second time around I jumped to the second floor where I was once again shown similar reoccurring art pieces from the first floor; however, after a quick gander I laid eyes on this baby
The Storm by Pierre Auguste Cot. I was instantly gravitated towards it because I have a replica, albeit worse painting hanging in my dinning room. I had never seen the original, nor did I know there was one, so I was simply blown away. I was physically in the presence of what I presume is a famous and well known piece of art, and I had never realized there was one similar to it in my own home. It almost felt like I was reuniting with someone I had fallen apart from. There was an infusion of sadness, happiness, anger, and passion. It was purely a feeling absent of words, a truly awe inducing feeling. I honestly don’t have a clue on how to explain it. I found the picture particularly enamoring because of the story behind it.
“One day, while descending from the mountaintop, I saw Virginie running from end of the garden toward the house, her head covered by her overskirt, which had lifted from behind her in order to gain shelter from a rain-shower. From distance I had thought she was alone; but upon coming closer to help her walk I that by the arm she held Paul who was almost entirely covered by the same blanket. Both were laughing together in the shelter of this umbrella of their own invention.”
In my mind, the story describes the sort of moment you would never want to end. A moment you can live in forever.
I experienced a similar feeling seconds after when I mistakenly entered a separate white washed room filled with countless impressionist paintings. I’ ve never experienced a Christmas morning feeling, since I’m Jewish, but I think know what it is now. I entered that room as if it was a gift from G-d himself. I saw some of my favorite paintings such as
Rouen Cathedral by Claude Monet
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat
Self-Portrait with Straw Hat by Vincent Van Gogh
Madame Manet at Bellevue by Edouard Manet
The Dance Class Edgar Degas
View of the Seacoast near Wargemont in Normandy by August Renoir
and Effect of Sunlight by Camille Pissaro
Each painting, I looked and watched. I followed the brush strokes, the color, the ruggedness, anything and everything. I jumped from painting to painting making sure I would see everything before the museum closed. It was breathtaking.
Although Renaissance art is more life like than Impressionism, I would say Impressionism is so much more realistic. With Impressionism, you can enter the scenes of the paintings because they were meant to be copies of what was actually occurring; whereas, Renaissance art is very elongated and artificial because the art was meant to glorify reality. The realistic values of all the paintings allow an in depth look into the emotions and feelings the artist felt when painting their images. If the artist felt particularly happy when painting the scene, we can feel that by the simple use of color, or the angle from which it was drawn such as Degas’s The Dance Class.
In Degas’s painting of the dance school there is a particular charming feeling of excitement. We are given the chance to glimpse into the world of these young dancers as they’re practicing. It feels as if I am right there in the room with him, watching the girls, seeing all of them stretch and train before they’re up for show. The girls’ faces give off concentration and determination as if they were all going up to do an actual performance. The perfectly parted ribbons and fluffy tutus exemplify the need to look absolutely perfect. The painting as a whole makes you hopeful that all of the girls will succeed and win over their instructor.
What I find exceptionally notable is the procedure of repainting a setting multiple times from different perspectives, particularly Monet’s remakes of the Rouen Cathedral. Like the one I posted here, Monet painted that same Cathedral from different times and angles over the course of two years. I just think that’s awesome and sensational. Monet didn’t just like that cathedral but he loved it, talk about being an objectophiliac. Honestly, I have become a little in love myself. I yearn to see it for myself from different angles and different viewpoints. I want to sit and watch the Cathedral as if it were a movie in the hopes that I capture Monet’s realizations. For reasons unknown, the simple repainting of the cathedral has made it a fantasy for me to pursue. Just as one day I would like to meet the person I will marry, I would love to meet the cathedral that had struck me with Monet’s arrow.
