During a recent trip to Trafalgar Square in Central London, I decided to check out the National Gallery. The gallery houses a collection of 2,300 paintings from the mid-13^th century to the 20^th, and was founded in 1824.

Once inside, I instantly noticed why it’s one of the most visited art museums in the world. Panning around every wall you see the works of many great artists, a few being; Van Gogh, Matisse, Renoir and of course, Monet. Being an impressionist myself, the area where Monet and other impressionistic artists where being held drew me in. This area was most memorable as although these artists are categorised within the same genre, they all gave a unique flare to the style. To think that when these artists first began making their art, they were rejected from galleries is truly beyond me. How wasn’t this style favoured compared to the realism movement beforehand? From seeing more realistic approaches to painting the landscape within The National Gallery, such as Alexandre Calame’s painting of a solitary pine tree – ‘At Handeck’, I noticed how abstract the impressionistic movement really was. Once walking among the works, I started to understand that this rejection to the impressionistic movement, accompanied by the backlash of work that Monet etc. produced, is the reason why impressionism was a turning point within modern art. Within the gallery it gave me a sense of appreciation for not just impressionism, but for all approaches. The beauty of it is, although the sheer size of the gallery can be overwhelming, the high volume of work allows you to take a journey back through the ages, as I did, and reflect upon how styles have changed. You can even do this with the building itself, which can be argued as a notable structure of the 19^th century.