Making a Good "Impression"

I took the "What Your Taste in Art Says About you Test" which Jim wrote about in a recent journal entry. Jim and I actually got the same result...

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.

People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

I actually knew before I took this test how I would score. I wouldn't say I was a huge art lover, but the things that I like I really like.

Sometime in the 1960s, I became aware of Van Gogh and, as with things that interest me, I became obsessed with reading all I could, seeing all I could and absorbing everything I could about his life and his art. When an exhibit came through San Francisco, Walt and I went to see it. I was blown away seeing some of the paintings in real life, especially Starry Night which was SO much bigger and more vivid than I ever imagined.

But I found that with all the bold and famous Van Gogh paintings, the one that took my breath away was the simple "Almond Blossom"

Gilbert surprised me with tickets to an Impressionist exhibit in San Francisco in 1985 or 86. I was introduced to so many different painters, and I reveled in the exhibit. I don't think I was aware of Mary Cassatt, before, for example, and I loved her Mother/child paintings.

Several years later, when I was living in D.C. for six weeks, I visited the Phillips Gallery, a small gallery near Dupont Circle (where I worked). They had a small, but lovely collection of impressionistic paintings, including Renoir's "The Boating Party"

A picture this small can't possibly begin to do it justice. Nor can small pictures do justice to any of these magnificent paintings.

My crowning joy (so far) was visiting the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, where the exhibit goes chronologically and you can follow the development of his technique from the dark days of "The Potato Eaters"...

...through the insanity so brilliantly expressed in "A Starry Night."

As I started to write this, it had been my intent to mention other artists that fill my soul with joy or awe when I see their paintings, but obviously my first love is the Impressionists. So, as I said, the result of this little quiz doesn't surprise me in the least. But I'm always open to exploring new genres, learning about new (to me) artists, and enjoying the work of the old masters. (The use of light in the old Dutch Masters is something that can't possibly be appreciated in a print, but must be seen to be understood.)

Hey...maybe I'm more of an art lover than I realized...

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Tomorrow is Cousins Day (finally!), so the next entry will be posted late.