Christina Galbraith - Mount Corcoran

 Easily one of my favorite paintings, artist Albert Bierstadt beautifully depicts the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I have always been drawn to realist paintings, and I believe it is because of my poor eyesight. I have great admiration for impressionist work, particularly the paintings of water scenes by Monet. However, a recent discussion with a friend made me reflect more on why realist paintings were so appealing to me. When asked what he found appealing about impressionist paintings, my friend replied that they distort our perception of what reality should look like, and introduce an abstract idea of what we expect to see. Thinking more on his response I realized that when not wearing my contacts or glasses, the blurred effect seen in impressionist art is my reality. All the colors and details in my line of sight blur together in the beautiful effect seen in impressionism. Perhaps that's why I'm so drawn to realist works. They are the ideal that I pursue with corrective lens.



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