ARTH 254 FINAL REVIEW COMPLETE STUDY
2025/2026
Consider key characteristics and personalities of the various stylistic movements, from
Realism to Abstract Expressionism, which we have looked at.
REALISM (mid 1800s)
Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Jean-François Millet
WHAT WAS REALISM?
- Unidealized representation of a real event
- Sought to depict the world with accuracy and truthfulness
- Rejection against idealized, romanticized, and fantastical portrayals of subjects in art
(Romanticism)
- Frequently served as social commentary on harsh realities of industrialization
- Focused on portraying ordinary people engaged in everyday activities
- Artists inspired by photography (Corbet), emphasizing objectivity and truth -
Presented subjects in unvarnished, gritty manner w/ meticulous detail
Eugène Delacroix, Saint George Fighting Gustave Courbet, The Stonebreakers, 1849.
the Dragon, also known as Perseus Delivering Andromeda,
1847.
, IMPRESSIONISM (1874-mid 1880s)
Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renior, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas
WHAT WAS IMPRESSIONISM?
- Search for momentary posture/moment, realization of the suddenly seen
- Sought to capture the fleeting effects of light and color in the moment
- Interested in the immediate and transitory aspects of a scene
- Aimed to convey the sensory experience of a moment rather than creating a highly
finished, polished artwork.
CLAUDE MONET
- Treatment of the surface as a 2D pattern
- Color more delicate hues of pink, gold, light blue,
lavender
- Color from source with light
- Continuity within change rather than permanence, in
becoming rather than being
- Immediate experience of nature, even if results were
more reflective than descriptive
- “Instability of the universe transforming itself under
our eyes”
Claude Monet, La Grenouillère, 1869.
AUGUSTE RENOIR
- Love of life and people, devotion to women as the most beautiful of all created beings -
Impressionist dissolution of form thru vibrant light
- Had his own taste of prismatic colors: luminous tones
- Embraced Impressionism’s core principles of fleeting effects of light, color and
atmosphere, and often painted outdoors (effects of natural light and changing conditions)
, The Great Bathers, 1884-87.
- flat, dull, brightly pale, like a fresco on plaster
(intentional)
- abandoned prismatic color for pale pink, yellow,
violet
- artistic rather that naturalistic precedents
EDGAR DEGAS
- Interests in photography and Japanese
print, used pastel → turned to fiery,
bold colors
- Transformed the nudes painted through
pastel thru imagination of
Michelangelo’s bathers
- “It's all very well to copy what you
see, but it’s much better to draw what
you see only in your mind. You reproduce only what strikes you, which is what is
necessary. Then, your memory and your imagination are freed from the tyranny
imposed by nature” - Degas
Edgar Degas, The Tub, ca. 1885-86.
CAMILLE PISSARO
- Bridges between Impressionism and Neo/Post Impressionism - Painted
outdoors “en plein air”
- Contributed to movements emphasis on movement and spontaneity
- Subject matter often depicted everyday life, rural laborers, and the effects of
industrialization on the landscape, reflecting the Impressionists' interest in
capturing contemporary life
2025/2026
Consider key characteristics and personalities of the various stylistic movements, from
Realism to Abstract Expressionism, which we have looked at.
REALISM (mid 1800s)
Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Jean-François Millet
WHAT WAS REALISM?
- Unidealized representation of a real event
- Sought to depict the world with accuracy and truthfulness
- Rejection against idealized, romanticized, and fantastical portrayals of subjects in art
(Romanticism)
- Frequently served as social commentary on harsh realities of industrialization
- Focused on portraying ordinary people engaged in everyday activities
- Artists inspired by photography (Corbet), emphasizing objectivity and truth -
Presented subjects in unvarnished, gritty manner w/ meticulous detail
Eugène Delacroix, Saint George Fighting Gustave Courbet, The Stonebreakers, 1849.
the Dragon, also known as Perseus Delivering Andromeda,
1847.
, IMPRESSIONISM (1874-mid 1880s)
Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renior, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas
WHAT WAS IMPRESSIONISM?
- Search for momentary posture/moment, realization of the suddenly seen
- Sought to capture the fleeting effects of light and color in the moment
- Interested in the immediate and transitory aspects of a scene
- Aimed to convey the sensory experience of a moment rather than creating a highly
finished, polished artwork.
CLAUDE MONET
- Treatment of the surface as a 2D pattern
- Color more delicate hues of pink, gold, light blue,
lavender
- Color from source with light
- Continuity within change rather than permanence, in
becoming rather than being
- Immediate experience of nature, even if results were
more reflective than descriptive
- “Instability of the universe transforming itself under
our eyes”
Claude Monet, La Grenouillère, 1869.
AUGUSTE RENOIR
- Love of life and people, devotion to women as the most beautiful of all created beings -
Impressionist dissolution of form thru vibrant light
- Had his own taste of prismatic colors: luminous tones
- Embraced Impressionism’s core principles of fleeting effects of light, color and
atmosphere, and often painted outdoors (effects of natural light and changing conditions)
, The Great Bathers, 1884-87.
- flat, dull, brightly pale, like a fresco on plaster
(intentional)
- abandoned prismatic color for pale pink, yellow,
violet
- artistic rather that naturalistic precedents
EDGAR DEGAS
- Interests in photography and Japanese
print, used pastel → turned to fiery,
bold colors
- Transformed the nudes painted through
pastel thru imagination of
Michelangelo’s bathers
- “It's all very well to copy what you
see, but it’s much better to draw what
you see only in your mind. You reproduce only what strikes you, which is what is
necessary. Then, your memory and your imagination are freed from the tyranny
imposed by nature” - Degas
Edgar Degas, The Tub, ca. 1885-86.
CAMILLE PISSARO
- Bridges between Impressionism and Neo/Post Impressionism - Painted
outdoors “en plein air”
- Contributed to movements emphasis on movement and spontaneity
- Subject matter often depicted everyday life, rural laborers, and the effects of
industrialization on the landscape, reflecting the Impressionists' interest in
capturing contemporary life
