In 1839, the daguerreotype became a publicly available process. As the new technology developed, it allowed very accurate and precise scenes to be captured. For example, photography provided unique perspectives, greater detail, blurring, and other light effects which caused photographs to look different from paintings, even the most realistic paintings such as those produced by neoclassical artists David and Ingres. Reactions to photography by members of the artistic community as well as by the public were mixed. Some believed photography to be a welcome answer to problems such as the need for long poses and the inability to effectively capture motion, while others viewed the new technology as the end of painting as an art form.

Two different responses to photography can be seen in “Starry Night Over the Rhone” by van Gogh and “The Persistence of Memory” by Salvador Dali. According to his letters, van Gogh believed in a mystical connection that joined poets, artists, and the stars. As a result, he often incorporated the stars into his paintings. As a post-Impressionist, van Gogh had a unique style of painting that was more realistic than that of artists like Monet while still containing textures and added elements that were far from the realism of photography.

In “Starry Night Over the Rhone,” van Gogh presents the stars as small dots of light with “rays” coming out of them. This represents the twinkling of the stars in an artistic fashion that is clearly identifiable, although no one would claim that the stars “really” look like that. Similarly, van Gogh paints the reflection of artificial lights in the water, but continues the reflections all the way to the shore in the foreground — a depiction that is not precise but does add depth to the painting. Like the Impressionists, van Gogh used visible brushstrokes, but his brush patterns were much larger than those of artists like Monet or Renoir.

The Surrealistic painting by Salvador Dali entitled “The Persistence of Memory” shows that Dali had a very distinctive response to photography’s development. Unlike van Gogh and the Impressionists, Dali’s style of painting was relatively realistic. That is, his brushstrokes blended together to make smooth edges and many of the objects in “The Persistence of Memory” are clearly identifiable. For example, the clocks are obviously clocks, even though they appear to be melting, and the dead tree and pocket watch are also unmistakable. The cliffs in the distance are so clear that they have been recognized as the cliffs on the coast of Catalonia in Spain, Dali’s home. The figure in the center of this painting is not easily recognizable, however, and provides a strong contrast to the other elements that are. According to the Museum of Modern Art, Dali stated that he painted this work with a fury of precision to systematize confusion and thus to help discredit completely the world of reality. While van Gogh remained relatively close to realism, Dali painted the fantastic worlds of his dreams.

In earlier periods, such as the Neoclassical period, artists often created works that were requested by patrons, with specified subjects. In that case, the audience was key. For many painters and other artists in the Modern Age, their creations have become more about themselves than about the audience. Dali and van Gogh are two examples of this, since Dali painted his own personal dreams, and van Gogh’s work was often influenced by his mental illness and the time he spent in an asylum. Other Modern artists whose works were less audience-focused and more artist-focused include Jackson Pollock (who spoke of “losing himself” in his work), Marc Chagall (who used his Jewish heritage to express himself), and René Magritte (who said that art, for him, was a means of evoking mystery).