Impression, Sunrise

A simple fact- I am no artist. My best drawing to date is that of a stick figure with curly hair holding a balloon. Don't worry, I'd given up on taking up the paintbrush back when I was 7, so I'm not going to draw three random lines and have you term it "Abstract Art'!

But of course, my curious nature gets the best of me and for the past few months, I have developed an interest in knowing more about Art movements over the years. Expressionism, Fauvism, Minimalism, Surrealism, Futurism- to name a few. Not that I know much about any of these art periods, all I know is that I want to. However, from my current knowledge base, the art period that I find the most interesting and moving is the 19th century movement- Impressionism.

Claude Monet's exquisite painting "Impression, Sunrise", gave the movement its name. He experimented with a method of putting paint on the canvas without blending the colors. Brush strokes and dabs of color would be placed side by side. Monet called it the "division of colours". When you stepped back from the canvas, your eyes would blend the colors together.

 And THIS is what makes this painting extraordinary. In the desaturated version of the painting composed of very tiny vibrant brushstrokes,the sun disappears almost entirely! Technically, the sun has been painted of the same brightness as the sky, and the searing lack of contrast brings out the beauty in this eerie masterpiece.

There are various scientific reasons for how different regions of our brain perceive colour and objects, but that is immaterial. Beauty is inherently subject to taste and social conditioning, but the creation of beauty is Art. And this is ART.

"Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love. " 
- Claude Monet

 It's as simple as that.
Later. :)