Perception and Impressionism

Impressionism is 19th century art movement that involved realistic scenes by using small brush strokes or even small dots of color. Artists also use different angles, colors, and lighting techniques in order to give the appearance of movement in each piece which is called implied motion. For example, the movement of the waves as ships are sailing, wind in the grass as a lady is sitting in a park, or dancers stretching across a ballet bar. Due to previous experiences and knowledge of the observer the implied motion can continue in the a person's mind. This is called representational momentum. See if you notice any implied motion or representational momentum as you observe the paintings in this youtube video.