John-Rountree

 Impressionist Art     Impressionism is probably my favorite type of art.  A lot of paintings done in this style have a lot of "blurred" detail almost making the art look unfinished.  To me, it would take a lot of skill, patience, and will to intentionally paint something whose end product has so many blurred lines and details.   Claude Monet,  Impression Sunrise , 1872.     Just look at how Monet added the reflections in the water but yet left blurred lines some of which create the ripples in the water.  This is a beautiful representation of a sunrise on the water.  This is the painting that paved the way forward for  impressionism. With the free-flowing lines and lack of a set of rules, this quickly became a popular type of art.  Monet also used this scene of a picturesque sunrise to also portray the dawn of a new industrial era.   Elmer MacRae, Back of Old House , 1910.     In impressionist art, it is normal to see the strokes from the artist and it is no longer cliche.  

  The Classical art era was sort of America's founding art era.  Much of America's identity is and was centered around classical art.  The revolution came during a period when many classically trained artists were making their way across the pond to depict life in the colonies.  Through the paintings below you can see how American artists depicted the war compared to how a British artist depicted the war.  When looking at the examples below think about how far away and disconnected the king was at the time of the war. John Trumbull The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton Jan 3 1777 ca 1789 This has been said to be one of Trumbull's favorite paintings.  The painting depicts a major turning point in the war.  The painting tries to depict that even though an influential leader has been taken out someone can still step up and win the battle.  Which is what George Washington actually did.  The artist uses light and shadow to draw the viewer's focus to the pain