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.
Find a collection of authentic Impressionist art on 1stDibs.
2010s Impressionist Art
Gold Leaf
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil, Wood
Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero captures a sense of serenity, referencing a gentle river near his home. "Almost indistinguishable is the lone patient heron poised on a ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
1930s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Paper, Pastel
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Drypoint, Etching
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Panel, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Color
1920s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1890s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
Artist Mary Pratt described the low country marsh as her favorite place to paint. In this piece, she simplified the greens of the landscape by capturing the s...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1880s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
1990s Impressionist Art
Lithograph
1930s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
1890s Impressionist Art
Etching
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Gouache
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1970s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Paper, Mixed Media, Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Wood, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Wood
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Plaster, Wood
Artist Comments
Capturing one of his favorite subjects, artist Onelio Marrero portrays a museumgoer immersed in a masterpiece. A venerable gentleman stands riveted before a pai...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Artist Comments
The evening sun bathes the historic village of Obidos, Portugal, in warm golden light, casting soft shadows on whitewashed buildings. A winding cobblestone stre...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Paper, Satin Paper, Color
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1890s Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Ink, Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1910s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Cotton Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil