Impressionism and Post-Impressionism

Today I took the Impressionism and Post-Impressionism tour. I have always loved Impressionism — the works of Van Gogh and Monet were most aesthetically pleasing to me, and Degas' ballerinas were my absolute favorite for a long time.

The tour was enlightening, as the guide focused on the structure of the paintings — a factor central to the Impressionist movement. The drift from traditional practices wasn't just in brush stroke and realism alone, but also included a shift from the triangular structure with a single, centered focal point, to a more dynamic one. Impressionists organized their compositions with converging elements giving emphasis to several places on the canvas and sometimes off.