IMPRESSIONISM Lesson

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Impressionism
‐ Impressionist art is a style in which the artist captures

the image of an object as someone would see it if
they just caught a glimpse of it. They paint the
pictures with a lot of color and most of their pictures
are outdoor scenes. Their pictures are very bright and
vibrant. The artists like to capture their images without
detail but with bold colors.
Moulin de la
Galette
3 Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876
Impressionism
‐ Impressionism can be considered the first distinctly modern movement in
painting. In turning away from the fine finish and detail to which most artists
of their day aspired.
‐ Aims to the impression objects made on the eye in a fleeting instant. To
achieve this effect, many Impressionist artists moved from the studio to the
streets and countryside, painting en plein air.
‐ The importance of the traditional subject matter was downgraded and
attention was shifted to the artist’s manipulation of colour, tone, and
texture as ends in themselves. The Impressionists also adopted Boudin’s
practice of painting entirely out-of-doors while looking at the actual scene,
instead of finishing up a painting from sketches in the studio, as was the
conventional practice.
Water Lilies
5 Claude Monet, 1917
Paris Street rainy day
6 Gustave Caillebotte, 1877
Key Ideas
‐ Loosened brushwork and lightened palettes to include pure, intense
colors.
‐ Impressionists avoided the clarity of form that had previously served to
distinguish the more important elements of a picture from the lesser
ones. For this reason, many critics faulted Impressionist paintings for
their unfinished appearance and seemingly amateurish quality.
‐ The Impressionists aimed to be painters of the real - they aimed to
extend the possible subjects for paintings. Getting away from depictions
of idealized forms and perfect symmetry, but rather concentrating on the
world as they saw it, imperfect in a myriad of ways.
8
Techniques
‐ Short, thick strokes of paint ‐ Grays and dark tones are
quickly capture the essence of produced by mixing
the subject, rather than its complementary colours.
details. The paint is often Pure impressionism avoids
applied impasto. the use of black paint.
‐ Colours are applied side-by- ‐ Wet paint is placed into wet
side with as little mixing as paint without waiting for
possible, a technique that successive applications to
exploits the principle of dry, producing softer edges
simultaneous contrast to make and intermingling of colour.
the colour appear more vivid
to the viewer.
History
Throughout the 19th century, most French painters produced work
that adhered to the traditional tastes of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, a
Paris-based organization that held annual salons. Showcasing a selection of
hand-picked artwork, the salons tended to favor conventional subject
matter—including historical, mythological, and allegorical scenes—rendered
in a realistic style.
Tired by this age-old approach to creativity, a group of artists
decided to skip the salon hype and, instead, host their own independent
exhibitions. Known as Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres,
Sculpteurs, Graveurs (“Cooperative and Anonymous Association of
Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers”), this band of artists—which included
Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro—
held their first exhibition in 1874.
History
The exhibit was set in the studio of Nadar, a French photographer,
the exhibition featured several paintings by 30 artists, with the most notable
being Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (1872).
Instead of the typically exhibited works at the Salon—epic, realistic,
and highly detailed canvases depicting grand historical, literary, or
mythological events—the bunch of artists portrayed what they saw in the
world around them. They documented the social changes sweeping the city
of Paris, including the development of the suburbs and the various forms of
leisure activity—from weekend sailboat regattas to evenings at the cabaret—
that were emerging across a new, urban middle class.
Impression
,
12 Claude Monet, 1872
Sunrise
The floor scrapers
13 Gustave Caillebotte, 1875
History
The exhibition saw mixed reviewed from critics, including journalist

Louis Leroy. When analyzing Impression, Sunrise, he infamously wrote:
“Impression—I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was
impressed, there had to be some impression in it … and what freedom, what ease of
workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that
seascape.”
Though clearly intended as an insult, his review actually helped the

movement—it inadvertently (and ironically) gave it its well-known name!
Importance of Impressionism
“ Impressionism is at the root of all modern art, because it was the first
movement that managed to free itself from preconceived ideas, and because it
changed not only the way life was depicted but the way life was seen.”
– Franceso Salvi
By the end of the Impressionists period, artists felt liberated from strict
rules or composition, subject matter and technique. They no longer
depended on opinion of the Salon. They were free to paint what they
wanted, experiment with new technology, and pursue their own ideas
and talent.

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‐ Impressionist art is a style in which the artist captures

The exhibition saw mixed reviewed from critics, including journalist

Though clearly intended as an insult, his review actually helped the

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