The impressionist movement, at its basic core, was a study on light and color. After a while the images became blurred out and unviewable. Inspired by Claude Monet, the artists of this era consisted of Edward Monet, Auguiste Renoir, Whistler, and Edgar Degas. The characteristics of this movement include painting in open air, meaning on the spot, capturing the shimmer and light of the open air, the use of high key and warm colors of pure tints, the use of propped images, dematerialization, and capturing the timelessness of the forms.

The Post-Impressionist movement was a reaction to and willingness to change of the Impressionist movement. It was a return to core Impressionist values. The major artists of the time included Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin. The characteristics of this movement include a shift towards painting more with more solidity and tradition, an appeal to intellect, the use of profound images, a return to classical style, and, “projects an inner idea without using narrative of literal symbols,” according to Janson in the book, History of Art: The Western Tradition.

Clear comparisons and contrasts, between the two movements, can be seen when looking at a work of art from each period of art. Two good examples are Claude Monet’s, Water Lilies, from Impressionism, and Paul Cezanne’s, Mont Ste-Victoire Seen from Bibemus Quarry, from Post-Impressionism. Monet’s work used the theme of water lilies but there was no true meaning or thought put into it. It is simply a study of light and patches of color. Cezanne’s work used the theme of a certain mountain view, and was supposed to be a familiar scene for the viewers. The composition of Monet’s work is static and upfront to the picture frame, much like Cezanne’s work, which lacks any sort of depth; instead it is a merger of the foreground with the middle ground. Monet used the visual effect of light and atmosphere while Cezanne’s still life paid little attention to light and instead focused on the seriousness and essence of the image. Monet’s painting allowed the viewer to see the image from any direction and regarded the actual lilies as unimportant. It is part of a technical process and the ideas of brushstroke and light particles take over. Cezanne’s painting, which is enclosed in a triangular form, is an appeal to the viewer’s intellect. It allows the spectator the feeling of being able to reach into the work. Finally the images, are a complex layout of line, shape, time, color, and texture.