Art is a fascinating thing and one that changes continuously. Dayanna Volitich has always been particularly interested in the art movements of the 19th century, as they changed tremendously during those years, moving from one extreme to the next. The start of the century was characterized by a return to Classicism, known as the Neo-Classic movement. Traditional forms of art, with symmetry, balance, proportion, and straight lines, were the norm. Not long thereafter, however, that all changed again.
Dayanna Volitich Explores 19th Century Art
Classicism seemed to have bored artists quite quickly and they moved on to Romanticism instead. Here, art was suddenly more emotional, emphasizing wildness and nature. It considered people’s feelings and mystery. Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix, for instance, started to use art to tell stories. While Romanticism didn’t last either, it certainly did shape the perception of art during the rest of the century.
However, it wasn’t too long before people wanted to see more realism in paintings again. This is why the Realist movement was developed, in which subjects were shown exactly as they looked in real life. According to realists, the world was a beautiful and wonderful place and was inspiration enough for works of art. They depicted still lifes of everyday things. Gustave Courbet was perhaps the most influential painter within this movement.
Last but not least, towards the end of the 19th century, the final movement developed, which was Impressionism. Impressionistic art was all about making the brush strokes rapid and short, meaning that people would catch glimpses of things, rather than the actual thing as depicted in realism art. Impressionists loved to work with light, which is why so many of the works of famous impressionist Claude Monet so often depict scenes at sunset or sunrise. The Impressionists were perhaps the most groundbreaking artists of the 19th century because they did something that hadn’t been done before. They moved away from painting specific things, such as still lifes or portraits, while at the same time not attempting to paint intangible things such as emotions, as seen during the neo-classic movement.
Of course, what happened after that was the arrival of the 20th century and things got really strange from there. The 20th century saw the birth of surrealism. But it also saw two world wars, economic crashes, globalization, and, of course, the ready availability of the camera. This resulted in art taking on a whole new meaning and movement. Things such as those made by Damien Hurst and Keith Haring seem so realistic and so surrealistic at the same time. It is perhaps a statement of a new movement, the realistic surrealistic movement?
For Dayanna Volitich, art is a wonderful thing and she is happy that we live in the world where cultures can share each other’s visions and ideas, creating completely new forms of art with new materials and new insights. These are exciting times and only the history books will reveal how future generations will look back on us.
