Realism and Post-Impressionism.

Post-Impressionism and Realism;

Realism had developed as a strong reaction opposed to romanticism, showing the nitty-gritty truths of the real world without covering up the hardships that truths untold. The world is and can be a bleak place where people can fall through the social cracks and slip into obscurity or be ignored, it is these kinds of people, places, and things that realism seeks to depict and explore. The subject matters which are shown in these kinds of paintings are the unfiltered and non-idealized truth of what happens on a farmstead with farmers tending to their crops or workers in an iron smelting plant, or just regular people sitting down at night resting. 

Contrasted by Post-Impressionism which also depicts aspects and features of the real world, however it instead embraces how these things could or would make a person feel as opposed to an outright rejection of emotion for an unfiltered and gritty depiction of actual working life. Going back to the iron plant analogy, while a realist would see a dark and grimy factory filled with smoke focusing on the nature of the workers themselves, a post-impressionist would see the glowing lights of the furnace cutting through the gloom and illuminating those around, men singing or humming to pass the time and keep focused; the feelings of accomplishment as you complete such a hard task. 

Post-Impressionism:

Starry Night over the Rhone - Vincent Van Gogh (1888)

Vincent Van Gogh's work in post impressionism is some of the most well-known and widely regarded paintings in its genre, defining it dramatically and is what people will think of when you mention the genre. Here a couple is standing on a pier on the banks of the Rhone river in southern France as the lights of the city illuminate and shine brightly with the constellation Ursula Major, the Great Bear, hangs above with dozens of other stars. Van Gogh loved the night sky and the skylines of cities at night, the night sky becomes a theme in many of his later works such as his most famous 'Starry Night' which this predates by about a year.

Vue prise au Mont-Gargan Soleil Couchant - Robert Antoine Pinchon (1909)

  Robert Antoine Pinchon got his rise as a post-impressionist painter from his work depicting nature and landscapes in the usual methods that characterized this sect of artwork using colors to represent the emotional thoughts of the artist. This specific piece is meant to be watching the sunset on Mount Gargan, a hill in South central France, as a group of trees sway in the breeze. 

As 'Starry Night over the Rhone' used the night sky to draw amazement and wonder, so too does Soleil Couchant do the same for the woods and forests that fill Southern France. To me at least I get a sense of relaxation and being put at ease from this painting, I used to grow up in a wooded area where me and my siblings would play and explore and nothing was as peaceful as sitting on the porch watching the sun set through the trees.

Realism:

The Angelus - Jean-Francois Millet (1858)

While Post-Impressionism shows the real world and the beauty it can hold and the emotions it draws out, realism shows the real world as it truly is in a grim and bleak way. In 'The Angelus' two farmer peasants have begun to pray after a hard days work with a church spire visible just in the background. It shows most of the hallmarks common of realism art; simple blue collar workers doing their daily tasks with dark/stark colors to help set the mood conveying the feeling that life isn't always sunshine and rainbows, but rather the culmination of hard work and labor day after day. Again contrasted to post-impressionism which uses brighter colors supplemented by darker ones to convey a more hopeful or optimistic outlook on life while realism is inverted in a sense where it is the darker colors supplemented by lighter ones to help set a moodier, grimmer tone and setting.  

The Fog Warning - Winslow Homer (1885)

Here a simple fisherman rows his boat farther out to sea off the coast of Maine returning to his mother ship seen just faintly in the right hand side atop the waves as a bank of fog, those large grey clouds in the background, is gradually closing in Fishing was an important part of Maine's culture of the time and it was a hard and challenging job as the waters of the region were particularly treacherous with often harsh weather and rocks that lurked bellow the dark seas. 

The fisherman here is successful in catching some fish, however the most daunting part of the job has begun in his return home to the larger vessel. His boat is weighed down considerably by those fish, the side where he has place his catch is considerably angled downwards from the weight, and the seas are getting rougher. Rowing is already a physically straining motion, but now he has to cope with the worsening ocean, a heavier boat, and a fog bank that will make it all much harder if he does not make it back to the ship in time. 

Face-to-Face;

Post-Impressionism and Realism have two distinct traits about them, realism shows the bleaker and grim aspects of life and it does not water that fact down as life can be a struggle to make it through. Post-Impressionism is showing off the world in a way which their is optimism and emotional factors that can touch you and have you feel new experiences. Color wise, realism uses much more darker colors supplemented by lighter ones to give it atmosphere and tones that help give that sense of dread or the truth it is presenting while post-impressionism is a bit inverted with lighter colors supplemented by darker ones for a more relaxed or up lifting feelings. 

 

References:

“The Fog Warning, 1885 by Winslow Homer .” The fog warning, 1885 by Winslow Homer. Accessed October 29, 2021. https://www.winslowhomer.org/the-fog-warning.jsp.

“Millet and the Angelus.” Journal of ART in SOCIETY. Accessed October 29, 2021. http://www.artinsociety.com/millet-and-the-angelus.html.

“Post-Impressionism Movement Overview.” The Art Story. Accessed October 25, 2021. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/post-impressionism/.

“Robert Antoine Pinchon - Have You Heard of Him?” iTravelWithArt, February 22, 2020. https://www.itravelwithart.com/robert-antoine-pinchon/.

“Robert Antoine Pinchon.” Leighton Fine Art. Accessed October 29, 2021. https://www.leightonfineart.co.uk/artist/robert-antoine-pinchon/.