How much do you know about Impressionism?

Overview of Impressionism: Origins, Techniques, and Artists

• Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement in France characterized by small, visible brushstrokes, open composition, and emphasis on accurate depiction of changing light, ordinary subject matter, and unusual visual angles.

• The movement originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s, facing harsh opposition from the conventional art community in France.

• The Impressionists violated the rules of academic painting, constructing their pictures from freely brushed colors that took precedence over lines and contours, and painted realistic scenes of modern life, often outdoors.

• The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting outdoors or en plein air, portraying overall visual effects instead of details, and using short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed color to achieve an effect of intense color vibration.

• The Impressionists' style, with its loose, spontaneous brushstrokes, would soon become synonymous with modern life, and their art gradually won a degree of public acceptance and support.

• The Impressionists learned much from the work of Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Eugène Boudin, who painted from nature in a direct and spontaneous style that prefigured Impressionism and who befriended and advised the younger artists.

• A number of identifiable techniques and working habits contributed to the innovative style of the Impressionists, including wet-on-wet painting, use of complementary colors, and broken color technique.

• Impressionists took advantage of the mid-century introduction of premixed paints in tin tubes, which allowed artists to work more spontaneously, both outdoors and indoors, and many vivid synthetic pigments became commercially available to artists for the first time during the 19th century.

• The Impressionists' progress toward a brighter style of painting was gradual, and they often chose to paint on grounds of a lighter grey or beige color, which functioned as a middle tone in the finished painting.

• The Impressionists relaxed the boundary between subject and background so that the effect of an Impressionist painting often resembles a snapshot, a part of a larger reality captured as if by chance.

• Photography inspired Impressionists to represent momentary action, not only in the fleeting lights of a landscape but in the day-to-day lives of people, and the development of Impressionism can be considered partly as a reaction by artists to the challenge presented by photography.

• The Impressionists were a diverse group in style and temperament, unified primarily by their spirit of independence and rebellion, and included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, and Édouard Manet, whoOverview of Impressionism and its Influences

• Impressionism was an art movement that emerged in France in the 1860s and 1870s.

• Photography was a major influence on Impressionism, as it inspired artists to focus on expressing their subjective perception of nature rather than creating exact representations.

• Japanese ukiyo-e art prints also influenced Impressionism, contributing to the characteristic snapshot angles and unconventional compositions.

• Female Impressionists faced social and career limitations compared to male Impressionists, but still found success during their lifetime.

• The four most well-known female Impressionists were Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond, and Berthe Morisot.

• Impressionists were striving for "truth" and new ways of seeing, and each artist had an individual painting style.

• Close associates of the Impressionists who adopted their methods included Victor Vignon, Jean-Louis Forain, Giuseppe De Nittis, Federico Zandomeneghi, and Eva Gonzalès.

• Impressionism influenced other art forms beyond painting, including sculpture, photography, film, music, and literature.

• Post-Impressionism emerged in the 1880s with artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Paul Cézanne.

• Post-Impressionist artists developed different precepts for the use of color, pattern, form, and line, derived from the Impressionist example.

• The work of the original Impressionist painters may be categorized as Impressionism, while the work of post-Impressionist artists is known as post-Impressionism.

• Impressionism had a lasting impact on the art world and continues to be celebrated today as a groundbreaking movement in the history of art.

Overview of Impressionism: Origins, Techniques, and Artists

• Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement in France characterized by small, visible brushstrokes, open composition, and emphasis on accurate depiction of changing light, ordinary subject matter, and unusual visual angles.

• The movement originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s, facing harsh opposition from the conventional art community in France.

• The Impressionists violated the rules of academic painting, constructing their pictures from freely brushed colors that took precedence over lines and contours, and painted realistic scenes of modern life, often outdoors.

• The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting outdoors or en plein air, portraying overall visual effects instead of details, and using short "broken" brush strokes of mixed and pure unmixed color to achieve an effect of intense color vibration.

• The Impressionists' style, with its loose, spontaneous brushstrokes, would soon become synonymous with modern life, and their art gradually won a degree of public acceptance and support.

• The Impressionists learned much from the work of Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Eugène Boudin, who painted from nature in a direct and spontaneous style that prefigured Impressionism and who befriended and advised the younger artists.

• A number of identifiable techniques and working habits contributed to the innovative style of the Impressionists, including wet-on-wet painting, use of complementary colors, and broken color technique.

• Impressionists took advantage of the mid-century introduction of premixed paints in tin tubes, which allowed artists to work more spontaneously, both outdoors and indoors, and many vivid synthetic pigments became commercially available to artists for the first time during the 19th century.

• The Impressionists' progress toward a brighter style of painting was gradual, and they often chose to paint on grounds of a lighter grey or beige color, which functioned as a middle tone in the finished painting.

• The Impressionists relaxed the boundary between subject and background so that the effect of an Impressionist painting often resembles a snapshot, a part of a larger reality captured as if by chance.

• Photography inspired Impressionists to represent momentary action, not only in the fleeting lights of a landscape but in the day-to-day lives of people, and the development of Impressionism can be considered partly as a reaction by artists to the challenge presented by photography.

• The Impressionists were a diverse group in style and temperament, unified primarily by their spirit of independence and rebellion, and included Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, and Édouard Manet, whoOverview of Impressionism and its Influences

• Impressionism was an art movement that emerged in France in the 1860s and 1870s.

• Photography was a major influence on Impressionism, as it inspired artists to focus on expressing their subjective perception of nature rather than creating exact representations.

• Japanese ukiyo-e art prints also influenced Impressionism, contributing to the characteristic snapshot angles and unconventional compositions.

• Female Impressionists faced social and career limitations compared to male Impressionists, but still found success during their lifetime.

• The four most well-known female Impressionists were Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond, and Berthe Morisot.

• Impressionists were striving for "truth" and new ways of seeing, and each artist had an individual painting style.

• Close associates of the Impressionists who adopted their methods included Victor Vignon, Jean-Louis Forain, Giuseppe De Nittis, Federico Zandomeneghi, and Eva Gonzalès.

• Impressionism influenced other art forms beyond painting, including sculpture, photography, film, music, and literature.

• Post-Impressionism emerged in the 1880s with artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Paul Cézanne.

• Post-Impressionist artists developed different precepts for the use of color, pattern, form, and line, derived from the Impressionist example.

• The work of the original Impressionist painters may be categorized as Impressionism, while the work of post-Impressionist artists is known as post-Impressionism.

• Impressionism had a lasting impact on the art world and continues to be celebrated today as a groundbreaking movement in the history of art.