by Jared Steinberg

Created on: August 09, 2009   Last Updated: February 11, 2010

Prior to the middle of the 19th century, painting in Western art primarily served to inform while imitating nature in some form or another. It served as a means to communicate, recording experiences or conveying spiritual concepts. The Impressionist era marked the division between art with this intended utilitarian purpose and art for art's sake. To fully understand and appreciate Impressionism is to be at least a little familiar with the history and circumstances leading up to it.

Since the earliest works known to the world, the original purpose of art was rooted in functional qualities for both documentation and ritual. From the caves of Lascaux to the hieroglyphs and murals of Ancient Egypt, painting visually expressed history and traditions to subsequent generations. It also served to enhance the visual appearance of items used for ritual. Artists of the time were limited to a range of local pigments dug from the earth or extracted from living things. Furthermore, their crude understanding of three-dimensional perspective made for paintings that captured the essence of their subject matter with less concern for photo-realistic renderings.

Changes in technique began to occur around the Greek Classic Period of 1-500 AD which demonstrated a progression toward a more realistic approach in art. The concurrent development of various humanity disciplines (i.e. philosophy, math and science) seems to have fueled a new perspective on art, though it was primarily through sculpture that the emergence of this life-like work took place. The Romans continued these practices all the way through the Byzantine Period which spanned from the fourth century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Many Byzantines fled to Italy where they influenced a renewed interest in classic Greek and Roman culture, thus beginning the Italian Renaissance.

The masters of the Italian Renaissance furthered the possibilities of painting with a better understanding of anatomy and two-point perspective, but they were still limited to the few muted earthy colors available to them. They circumnavigated the narrow palette through well-planned compositions and methodical layering techniques creating dramatic works that were darker in value. They also perfected the illusion of three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface, known as trompe l'oeil which means to fool the eye thereby yielding very realistic portraits expressing political, religious and philosophical

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>