For the most part I find Impressionism appealing.  I would have to say the only thing that I don’t like about it is it’s focus towards the upper and middle class and not towards everyone.  I suppose that the amusements and pasttimes of the upper and middle classes are more interesting and fantasy-like than those of the lower class but I wonder if it was still appealing to the lower class?  I find the subject matter of the Impressionist Era very intriguing.  The subject matter revolves around pleasant, fleeting moments, amusements and passtimes of upper and middle classes and transitory effects of light and weather.  The artist used sketchy loose brush strokes and lines and dabs of colors that blended to create a fusion of several colors. 

Water Lily Pond by Claude Monet

The above picture is a prime example of the brush strokes mentioned above.  It also shows the transitory effects of light and is just a pleasant moment in time to view and focus on.  Claude Monet finished this work of art in 1899 in Giverny.  He was one of the most, if not the most, famous Impressionist painters of all time. 

Now, Post-Impressionism was different from that of Impressionism.  Post Impressionism is more formalized and structured than Impressionism and also allows for more personal interpretation.  According to The National Gallery website, “The classification [of Post-Impressionims] covers artists who were aware of Impressionism but who sought to move beyond it – the term is sometimes applied to late work of the original Impressionists”.  One of the most famous of the Post-Impressionistic artists was Vincent Van Gogh.  He was not as popular during his time as he is today.

Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear byVincent Van Gogh

Van Gogh completed this painting in 1889 in Arles.  He focused on the tragedies in his life and used brilliant colors.  This pictures shows the more formal aspect of Post-Impressionism and as one can see, the focus doesn’t seem to be on amusements and pleasant moments only. 

All together I prefer Impressionism to Post-Impressionism however, I prefer the Romantic style of painting as well.  Romantic style painting uses mists, dreams, fabulous landscapes, and horrible tragedies as its subject matter.  The emotional and dramatic style of this type of art is very appealing to me.  Caspar David Friedrich painted this in 1818. It leaves room for interpretation and one could imagine that the man is in a dream state or meditating which is what we might expect to find in Romantic-style paintings.

Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich

Sources:

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/server.php?show=conObject.95

http://www.german.leeds.ac.uk/RWI/2003_04project2/Images/friedrich.wanderer-sea-fog.jpeg