Impressionist Art
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.
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Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Art
Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1860s Impressionist Art
Etching
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1950s Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Lithograph, Stencil
1940s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Wood Panel
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Art
Oil, Linen
1930s Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Gouache
Early 1900s Impressionist Art
Crayon, Watercolor, Board
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1980s Impressionist Art
Masonite, Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 1900s Impressionist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Art
Drypoint, Etching
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Digital, Giclée
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil Pastel
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1970s Impressionist Art
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
1950s Impressionist Art
Watercolor
1930s Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Paint, Lights, Oil
Artist Comments
The winter lake effect on the lowlands of St. Lawrence County, near Watertown, New York, produces heavy snowfalls. A thick layer of snow blankets the field an...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1760s Impressionist Art
Paper, Ink
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Gesso, Oil, Acrylic
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Paper, Pastel
1920s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
Artist Comments
From this perch on one of Sedona's trails, one can view neighboring cliffs and the lush green valleys in between. The surrounding landscape showcases the vibr...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
A rocky mountain rises dramatically from the red desert floor of the Valley of Fire. Loose washes of watercolor convey serenity, while sharp lines define the ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Mixed Media
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1960s Impressionist Art
Watercolor
1870s Impressionist Art
Oil