Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Emerging in 19th-century France, Impressionist art embraced loose brushwork and plein-air painting to respond to the movement of daily life. Although the pioneers of the Impressionist movement — Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir — are now household names, their work was a radical break with an art scene led and shaped by academic traditions for around two centuries. These academies had oversight of a curriculum that emphasized formal drawing, painting and sculpting techniques and historical themes.
The French Impressionists were influenced by a group of artists known as the Barbizon School, who painted what they witnessed in nature. The rejection of pieces by these artists and the later Impressionists from the salons culminated in a watershed 1874 exhibition in Paris that was staged outside of the juried systems. After a work of Monet’s was derided by a critic as an unfinished “impression,” the term was taken as a celebration of their shared interest in capturing fleeting moments as subject matter, whether the shifting weather on rural landscapes or the frenzy of an urban crowd. Rather than the exacting realism of the academic tradition, Impressionist paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings represented how an artist saw a world in motion.
Many Impressionist painters were inspired by the perspectives in imported Japanese prints alongside these shifts in European painting — Édouard Manet drew on ukiyo-e woodblock prints and depicted Japanese design in his Portrait of Émile Zola, for example. American artists such as Mary Cassatt and William Merritt Chase, who studied abroad, were impacted by the work of the French artists, and by the late 19th century American Impressionism had its own distinct aesthetics with painters responding to the rapid modernization of cities through quickly created works that were vivid with color and light.
Find a collection of authentic Impressionist art on 1stDibs.
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
1880s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
1890s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
Early 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Color Pencil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Pastel
1870s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Rag Paper, Drypoint, Etching, Gouache
1970s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1880s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Board, Archival Paper
1990s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Carbon Pencil, Charcoal
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
1890s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Laid Paper
Late 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Cardboard, Gouache
1870s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Lithograph
Early 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Gouache, Monotype
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Ink
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Lithograph
1950s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Color Pencil, Mixed Media
1970s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
Late 19th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Illustration Board, Laid Paper
1860s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1890s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Ink
1870s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Gouache
1890s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pastel
1980s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pen, Laid Paper
1970s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Lithograph
Early 1900s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Crayon, Watercolor, Board
20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Pencil
1910s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Gouache
Early 2000s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Charcoal
1920s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Paper
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Archival Paper
Early 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Oil, Panel
1930s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor, Illustration Board
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor, Laid Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Pastel, Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Paper, Watercolor
Early 20th Century Impressionist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors
Watercolor