Impressionist Paintings
The word impressionist
was first used mockingly by a journalist to describe a painting
by Monet in 1874 entitled Impression:
Sunrise. Many artists recognized their style in the word "impressionism"
and continued to use the term. Impressionist painters
are highly respected today for their talent and innovative genius.
Most impressionist paintings
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were painted between
1867 and 1886.
The impressionist movement was touched off by
painter Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass, which was exhibited
in 1863. Manet himself was not an impressionist, but his work
influenced a group of painters who rejected the conventional
techniques and concepts of painting. This group, consisting
of Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro,
Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin, and Frederic
Bazille, did not see a painting as a fixed record of an object
or landscape. Instead, Impressionist painters tried to capture
a moment in time because objects and landscapes look different
at different times of the day.
They aimed to reproduce immediate visual impressions rather
than paint something as it would normally look. The main characteristic
of impressionism was an attempt to record the transient effects
of light and color. Thus, painters would paint different versions
of the same subject, but in different lights. Claude Monet,
especially, did not tire of painting the same scenes over and
over again at different times of the day. His series of paintings
of Rouen Cathedral exemplifies the impressionist philosophy
very well.
Since the official Salon of the French Academy consistently rejected their works, the impressionists held their
own exhibitions. The first show took place in 1874. Altogether, there were eight shows until 1886. The group
dissolved afterward because the members wanted to pursue their own interests in painting techniques and
subject matter.
Impressionism lasted only twenty years, but it left a lasting
legacy in the history of art. Today, impressionist paintings
are exhibited in museum all over the world, including the United
States, and are highly prized by art collectors. Post impressionist
artists, such as Gogh, Edgar Degas, and Paul Gauguin,
were influenced by the impressionist movement and produced a
body of work that represents the best in modern art.
Extract from “Countries Of The World France”, Written by Roseline Ngcheong-Lum.
Times Edition Pte Ltd. Singapore, 1999.
Impressionism
is so widely loved today that it is hard to imagine the fury it provoked when its
artists first showed their work in Paris. The appearance of Edouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass in an 1863
exhibition touched off the revolutionary new art movement.
It was Claude Monet who gave the movement its name, from
his 1872 An Impression, Sunrise. The Impressionists organized
eight of their own exhibitions in the 1870s and 1880s. The artists
included Claude Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Renoir, and Degas.
Although the interests and styles of the individual artists
differed, they cooperated in showing their work and greatly
influenced one another.
The Impressionists stressed color and composition over story
content, emotions, and symbols. They worked outdoors, used small
canvases, and made freer brush strokes to capture the quickly
changing atmosphere. Collectors delight in the Impressionist
images of light and color, sunny landscapes and shimmering water.
Among the most fascinating Impressionist are Claude Monet
series of pictures of poplar trees, haystacks, water lilies,
and Rouen Cathedral. He painted the same scenes at different
times of the day, trying to capture the fleeting effects of
light on the ever changing natural world.
Renoir was known for sensuous, colorful pictures of pretty women and children and joyous crowd scenes.
Degas portrayed bathers and dancers.
An assortment of painting styles and subjects characterized the many great Post Impressionist artists who
followed: Toulouse Lautrec's Moulin Rouge cabaret dancers painting, Cezanne's landscapes painting that so greatly influenced
cubism, Gauguin's exotic scenes of South Sea Islanders painting, and Van Gogh colorful, often tortured still lifes
and portraits painting. Van Gogh and Gauguin moved beyond Impressionism to use color for its emotional, expressive,
and decorative elements.
After a long struggle for recognition, Impressionist and Post Impressionist received great critical
approval and now sell for very high prices.
Extract from “Cultures Of The World France”, Written by Etbel Caro Gofen. Times Editions Pte Ltd,
Singapore: 1999.
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