Impressionist paintings show a fascination with color and light, similar to that of the Baroque period, but rather than using the deep contrasts and warm analogous colors, Impressionism focused on the colors that were common in Rococo art, light and almost airy hues, along with almost impossibly bright tones. Impressionists moved away from viewing light and color when confined by lines, rather focusing on the element of color by itself and how it mingled with value over everything else. Impressionists too seemed to do away with the discipline of imperceivable brushstrokes, preferring to give the canvas an actual texture one could visibly perceive and touch if given the choice. Composition has no linear formula in the paintings of this movement, although many of the paintings remain well balanced. In its ways, Impressionism focused on playing with almost all the senses, making the viewer get the initial impression of the subject that was being portrayed rather than attempting to show the object exactly how it was in the real world.
Edgar Degas’ Portrait of Mary Cassatt exemplifies the aspirations of the Impressionist movement perfectly. Color, value and shape are the foremost elements used to shape the figure of Ms. Cassatt, with line taking a backseat to the three. Visible brushstrokes suggest a lack of discipline, despite that being the very point. Degas gives the viewer the impression of Mary Cassatt, not a realistic portrait she purposefully posed for. The painting appears similar to a mass line sketch yet with color, focusing on getting the basics of the subject and how value falls on the hues. The background appears to be an afterthought, as the light above Mary Cassatt looks to have been quickly applied with a palette knife using the impasto technique. The viewer witnesses the texture of the paint lying on the canvas, which had applied with a quick hand over a rough surface and not moving back to buffer the paint to give it a smooth sheen as seen in Neoclassical paintings. Colors meld and mesh on the canvas to form Mary Cassatt’s portrait, her bow coming out of the misty, mixed yellow and gold hues that move out and stand starkly against the black tones that create her petticoat and dress. Smeared colors create the folds on her chest, and white tints smear into the tones that are her sleeves. Degas’ painting focuses solely on color and shape to recreate the subject on a canvas, doing away with the purposeful and slow paintings of the past.
Edgar Degas’ portrait reacts against that of the Neoclassical and Realist movements and exaggerating the traits of Romanticism. Visible brushstrokes become the preferred language of painting in this movement, playing with the viewer’s perceptions of a work by appearing clear and concise from far away but becoming almost abstracted the closer one gets. There’s the focus on getting the initial appearance of the subject rather than trying to translate a three dimensional object to a two dimensional plane as Realism had done. The initial world mattered more to Impressionists like Degas rather than an idealized one or one with models who knew they were models as Realism and Neoclassicism had done. The movement sought to capture the moment, unadulterated and authentic that previous movements lacked whether it was due to artistic constrictions or a different perspective. In these ways, Impressionism broke the mould and chose an alternate route that led to the events creating the modernist art movements of the 20th century.