Realism verses Impressionism

It was the late nineteenth century that realism overtook British art that would influence Whistler. Subjects were no longer romanticized or classicized. The movement rejected the subjective and emotional characteristics of Romanticism. Instead, artists concentrated on contemporary reality, often times depicting Down-to-earth, everyday subjects like landscapes; ordinary, working-class people; observable, contemporary life. Subjects like mythology, history or religion were avoided. Artists of realism believed that every day activities or the mundane were worthy of art as it captured the true aspects of humanity and what was actually happening in the world.
But Whistler was not only influenced by the realism movement, but also the impressionists movement. The impressionists goal was to depict changes of light to manipulate the viewer. Impressionists still used the idea that the realism artists used of the subject matter of mundane everyday life. The movement evolved from realism with large visible brush strokes, spacious compositions, and emphasis on lighting. Whistler’s work is often time related to the impressionists though his actual goal was to use color to provoke a mood in the viewer as oppose to manipulating light.

"Impressionism." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 23 Nov. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/284143/Impressionism>.

Campbell, Donna M. "Realism." Www.wus.edu. Donn M. Campbell, 9 Aug. 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2009. .