By: Bethany Faye Callaway
I. Impressionism in Literature:
This type of art form can be found in literature as well as in painting. This style of writing occurs when characters, scenes, or actions are portrayed from an objective point of view of reality. These aspects of the novel appear to the writer at a particular moment. The impressionistic writer's style was named for its great precision in the use of language to illustrate the transitory, vague, complex, and subjective impressions based on experiences.
II. Impressionism in Art:
An Impressionist considers the individual sensations or emotions of the artist under the influence of a specific transitory experience. An example of this would be a particular time of day or a condition of weather. The paintings not only contain a part of reality from the spectacle of life but also unconditional ethical attitudes. To an impressionist, the primary values of art--subject matter, and in particular intellectual, sentimental, or moral judgments--about it are secondary in importance.
III. How Impressionism Applies to the Novel Invisible Man:
If a metaphor had to be given to the novel, it would be a Monet painting. When looking at the works of Claude Monet, a person has to look at them with two perspectives. These two perspectives would be one up close and one far back. By looking at one of his paintings up close, it looks like just a bunch of dots on a canvas, but if a person takes a couple of steps back, one will see the dots transform into concrete images. The same device has to be used when reading this novel. The reader of the book cannot just read with a one-sided perspective, but like a Monet painting, one has to take a broader look to start understanding the vague themes being portrayed in the novel. The novel adopts the ideology of the Impressionists in that it portrays the transitory, vague, complex, and subjective impressions based on experiences of each character in the novel. An actual example of impressionism in the book occurs when the book alludes to the impressionist artist Renoir. Invisible Man comments, " ‘what a beautiful room you have here...’ looking across the rich cherry glow of furniture to see a life-sized painting of a nude, a pink Renoir" (411).