Let's Talk About Impressionism 1

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Colorful painting of a lake and trees. It is created with dashes and dabs of paint in a style that gives the impression of the way light and shadow and reflections work with one another.
James P. Bulter, Catatonk Pond, 1917. Oil on canvas. Gift of Richard Faletti, Faletti Family Collection, 2004-5-1

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Brightly colored landscape is on the bottom half of this image. The top says "Pond" and depicts orange horizontal lines drawn back and forth as they move down the page without lifting the marker.
Pond: Look at the lines and color used to draw the pond in this painting.

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Brightly colored landscape is on the bottom of this image. The top says “Clouds” and depicts pink curly lines that make up a cloud-like shape.
Clouds: Look at the lines and color used to draw the clouds in this painting.

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Brightly colored landscape is on the bottom of this image. The top says “Trees” and depicts a group of spiky and short green lines.
Trees: Look at the lines and color used to draw the trees in this painting.

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Brightly colored landscape is on the bottom of this image. The top says “Hills” and depicts two wavy blue lines that looks like the shape of some hills.
Hills: Look at the lines and color used to draw the hills in this painting.
Teacher Resource
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Guiding Questions:

  • How would you describe the lines in the trees, the clouds, the hills, and the water? What are the movements in this painting?
  • Let’s take a closer look at the colors, which are more realistic and which are more dreamlike?
  • Is this a place you would like to visit? Tell us more.

Butler’s grandfather was Claude Monet, a very famous Impressionist painter. Butler was a part of a group of artists called the Fauvists. In French, “fauve” means wild beasts. Fauve artists painted everyday things like people, places, and animals using wild brushstrokes and exciting colors. Butler visited Catatonk Pond in New York and decided to paint it. In this painting, Butler expressed how he felt about the place through exciting colors. The different types of brush strokes added power to this artwork.