In the later years of our history we have come to see art progress in many stages. These stages are categorized into Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Modernism, Cubism, Futurism, Constructivism, and Surrealism.
Realism represents figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life, and is generally restricted to a movement that began in the mid-19th century in reaction to the highly subjective approach of romanticism. Realism is concerned directly with what is absorbed by the senses. American realist paintings include the honest, matter-of-fact portraits by Thomas Eakans, William Sidney Mount. Eakins" The Gross Clinic combined sharp realism- a depiction of an operation in progress with psychological acuity in the portrayal of the surgeon Doctor Gross is realism at it's finest.
Impressionism is a movement in painting that originated in France in the 19th century. Impressionist painters were considered radical in their time because they broke many of the rules of picture-making set by earlier generations. They found many of their subjects in life around them rather than in history, which was the accepted source of subject matter. Instead of painting an ideal of beauty that earlier artists had defined, the impressionists tried to depict what they saw at a given moment, capturing a fresh, original vision that was hard for some to accept as beautiful. They often painted outdoors, rather than in a studio so they could observe nature more directly and set down its most transistory aspects especially the changing light of sun. Impressionist painters used broken brushstrokes of bright, often unmixed colors. These painters avoided blacks and earth colors, omitting detail to achieve a striking overall effect.
Where impressionist painters concentrated on the depiction of a subject's immediate appearance, post-impressionists focused on emotional or spiritual meanings that the subject might convey although impressionist artist interpreted what they saw, their approach nevertheless remained rooted in observation of the natural world.
