My thoughts on Impressionism are complex.  I am unsure whether or not I truly like it.  I feel it all depends on the piece of art itself.  For the most part, I do love the blended lines and colorful works.  Most importantly I love the subject matter!  Long gone are the religious, historical or moral paintings of the Baroque era.  What a welcome change!

For example, I absolutely love Mary Cassatt’s Maternite, Paris, c1890.  This portrait captures an intimate moment between mother and child.  The earnest way the child is feeding and yet looking at the viewer is very realistic.   The mother is very relaxed and comforting her child, and the baby is cute and pudgy and is well fed.  All of this is conveyed with subtle blended lines, and calming neutral colors.  The light is soft and suggests a cozy, warm space.  Even though the backdrop and the mother’s robe are sketchy, it does not take away from the focus of the mother and the child’s face.   Upon looking at this portrait, it becomes so calming  the eyes seem to relax and blur the colors together.

I prefer this style of painting of mother and child over ones such as Caravaggio’s Madonna and Child with St. Anne, c1605-1606, Rome. Most paintings from the Baroque era, like this one, do not suggest a close loving bond between the two.  On the contrary, children are often depicted as angels, cherubs, or religious icons such as Jesus.  There aren’t many, if any, intimate moments painted like Maternite.

Madonna and Child with St. Anne , in contrast, shows classic Baroque style.  The typical dark background and darker colors is vastly different from the Impressionist style.   The religious connotations of the halos and the snake are evident.  Jesus is depicted as the child, and the mother is Mary.  The suggestion is one of Jesus conquering the snake, the emblem for original sin.  This painting is a classic example of the Baroque period’s religious themed art.  What a difference from Mary Cassatt’s work!

I do like the religious theme of some paintings but could not imagine a time when all paintings were religious.  I can understand why impressionism was such a shock at first compared to the rigid lines and themes of past periods, but am glad people came around to appreciate the change  impressionism brought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Cassatt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_and_Child_with_St._Anne_%28Dei_Palafrenieri%29