Edward Hopper Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Edward Hopper Style - Essay Example The essay "Edward Hopper Style" discovers the application of Edward Hopper’s painting style to digital image manipulation. It was a time in which the people of France were attempting to gain a better lifestyle for themselves by demanding rights for the ‘common’ man as had been accomplished in America less than a generation earlier. In attempting to ‘accurately’ reflect life in all of its objective detail, French artists adopting a Realist approach worked to find the most ‘common’ examples of French life. They sought the people of the fields and villages and then depicted them in their most humble and mundane activities. The major ideas that fueled French realism are discussed within the writings of two different but influential artists of the period, Gustave Courbet and Ferdnand Leger. Only by understanding the principles of realism as they were developed in this first wave of artistic endeavor can one can begin to understand how they app lied to the world of America as it emerged from the bloodiest war fought on American soil and became the hallmark of one of America’s favorite artists, Edward Hopper. French artist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) asserted that â€Å"painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist in the representation of real and existing things†. In his art and in his philosophy, Courbet’s chief technical concern seems to be an abandonment of the ‘rules’ of art, at least to some degree, in favor of a more natural flow in both line and form. Courbet felt such rough elements.... In his art and in his philosophy, Courbet's chief technical concern seems to be an abandonment of the 'rules' of art, at least to some degree, in favor of a more natural flow in both line and form. Courbet felt such rough elements of the painting were more accurate in attempting to represent the moment as it existed as well as the emotion of the moment in which the piece was created or the scene was witnessed. His close association with the 'realism' of life as it was experienced by the humble peasantry as well as in his own careful observation of it helped Courbet develop a more intense identification with his subject. By 1850, his ideas regarding what was real in the world and in art were becoming more defined. This is clear in a letter he wrote to a friend, "' in our so very civilized society it is necessary for me to live the life of a savage. I must be free even of governments. The people have my sympathies, I must address myself to them directly" (cited in Insecula, 2008). With in the philosophy of his Realist Manifesto, Courbet states the goal of Realist art is "to translate the customs, the ideas, the appearance of my epoch according to my own estimation" (cited in Finnochio, 2004). Within this approach, it is clear that Courbet held a concept of the real that was based almost exclusively upon the previously unrepresented classes of society and their unreported and unknown daily experiences. Approaching art from this perspective, though, Courbet was equally guilty of making decisions regarding what to paint based upon his own inner conceptions of what was 'common' and 'unrepresented'. As a result, he was essentially making up his own definition of society and presenting this