Art Compare/Contrast Le Pin De

Art Compare/Contrast Le pin de Bonaventura a Saint-Tropez" is one of Paul Signac's most famous paintings, and at the same time, a very good example of Neo-impression whereas Vincent Van Gogh's "The Rocks" represents post-impressionism at its peak. The term 'Neo-impressionism' was coined at the end of the nineteenth century in order to describe the art movement led by French painters Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. The term expressed the roots of the new movement i.e.

Impressionism, but also the new approach to the use of color and line exhibited by Neo-impressionists. Post-impressionism was a term coined at the beginining of the twentieth century to characterize the course of French art since Manet who was the leading apostle of Impressionism. Post-impressionist artists continued the tradition of Impressionists but took their art beyond the limitations of Impressionism in the sense that they used unconventional techniques in their paintings.

Considering that the two paintings mentioned above are two prominent examples of the artistic movements they represent, this paper aims at explaining the main differences and similarities as far as the use of color, techniques, as well as symbolism. In addition, biographical information on the two painters, as well as a short background on Post-impressionism and Neo-impressionism are very important towards achiving the goal of understanding the two works of art in question. Vincent Van Gogh was born in 1853 in the Netherlands. His influence on twentieth century painting was enormous.

Van Gogh explained his artistic vision in a 1882 letter to his brother and sponsor, Theo: "There are two ways of thinking about painting, how not to do it and how to do it: how to do it - with much drawing and little colour; how not to do it - with much colour and little drawing." (Vincent Van Gogh Paintings, (http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/)Early in his life, Van Gogh was introduced to Impressionism in Paris. This encounter would change both his life and his work.

He abandoned the dark somber colors he worked with, and adopted the Impressionists' brighter colors and painting style. However, Van Gogh was able to blend these elements together, and did not compromise his own artistic persona. Critics claim that his style and technique were developed during the period of time he spent in Arles, France. His influence on German Expressionists as well as the French Fauves - whose foremost representant was Matisse, was immense. Van Gogh painted "The Rocks" in 1888 during his stay in Arles.

It was during the last decade of his life that Van Gogh produced more than 2,000 works of art including paintings, drawings and sketches. Shortly upon his arrival, Van Gogh started painting local landscaped that he was fascinated with. Van Gogh was inspired by the French town; in fact, he invited his friend, Paul Gaugain to visit him, and discover Arles together. Yellow was Van Gogh's favorite color during his Arles period.

Although less vibrant than his Paris period, the Arles palette of colors seemed the most appropriate to illustrate the sun of the Provence, but also the light and shades in his indoor paintings. He rejected conventional perspective; Van Gogh's work might appear unrealistic because the subject of his paintings, even in the case of nature, is shaped according to the imagination of the Dutch painter. The perspective might seem extreme.

In this sense, it is important to understand that Van Gogh was trying to break free from the limitations of the perspective frame which imposed realistic perspectives and proportions. Moreover, towards the end of his life, at the peak of his artistic maturity, he rebelled against the muted colors that Dutch painters were using at the time. Stylistically, the task of understanding Van Gogh's paintings cannot be undertaken without a proper look at what Post-Impressionism meant. Post-Impressionism took Impressionism to another level.

However, Post-Impressionists continued to use vivid colors and real-life subject matter, as well as thick layering of paint. In addition, nonetheless, Post-Impressionists rejected the confines of Impressionism which upheld natural colors and traditional forms. From this point-of-view, Van Gogh along with other Post-Impressionists such as Cezanne, Gaugain and Bonnard, blurred the limitations of conventional form, and distorted it in order to increase the expressive power of their paintings. Also, they used arbitrary color in the sense that the subject matter of the painting was not always depicted in traditional colors.

Neo-Impressionism was revolutionary as far as painting technique. Neo-Impressionists no longer mixed color pigments, but placed them on the canvas as small dots side by side. The mixture of colors that resulted from this technique was called "optical mixture," and referred to the fact that colors appeared mixted together only from a suitable distance; the main artistic advantage was the fact that colors seemed more vibrant which also enhanced the suggestive power of the subject matter.

This new technique was developed by French painter Georges Seurat towards the end of the nineteenth century, with the help of chemist Eugene.