Whenever I’m in a museum I notice myself looking for a specific type of art; Impressionism paintings.
I never knew what to call what I look for, but when I find it I know. And I can look for so long; admiring the little details up close that look like weird colored blobs, the expressions on the faces, the wind on the trees, the movement of water, or the depiction of humans doing human things. They all tell a story; not a political one, but a life like story. Like a scene that you see in the real world recreated. That makes you feel good and in awe. They’re not trying to paint a reflection of real life, but an impression of it. To me its like romanticizing our reality.
When I see these paintings I don’t see just a static image. In my head it moves (not a hallucination), there’s a narrative with characters and backgrounds and conversations, a life, a story to be told. I especially love when there’s a lot of details. Since the more you look the more you see. This art style includes quick brush strokes, and soft blended edges, which I find visually appealing and makes certain details be easily overlooked. It’s as if the more attention and time your willing to give the more it will unfold. You might be thinking how can an old painting by an old dead man move you. But it does. What I see, hear, and imagine when I admire them, is created. Its not there.
I don’t have a favorite painter, or a favorite piece. I don’t have favorites for anything, I’ve never though of why this is, but maybe that’s the case because choosing a favorite is some type of commitment I don’t want. It’s a limitation, it limits me to preferring one thing over another. Not having a “one” allows me to choose a different favorite based on how I feel, what I want to feel and so on, without having the burden to label it. So no, I’m not choosing a specific creative work that moves me because there is none. This art style doesn’t move me in a magical, spiritual way. I think its beautiful. And beauty inspires me, stories, people, and nature do as-well and that’s what I think all Impressionism works have in common.
However, what I like is not limited to Impressionism, some works of realism and expressionism move me. Because its not the style or the painter that makes me pause and truly attempt to look and understand the painting, the painting itself does. I like them because they aren’t loud, obnoxious or colorful. They’re subtle, detailed and poetic. That is what draws my attention.