Impressionism
Description
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterised by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, unusual visual angles, and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience. Impressionism originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s. Read more ↗
Key Artists
Claude Monet
Co-founder and leader of Impressionism whose 1872 painting 'Impression, Sunrise' gave the movement its name; perfected the study of pure atmospheric light and broken color.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Master Impressionist painter who focused on vibrant, dappled sunlight filtering onto joyous social gatherings, Parisian dance halls, and sensual portraits.
Edgar Degas
Core organizer of the independent Impressionist exhibitions celebrated for unusual asymmetrical compositions, daring angles, and masterful depictions of ballet dancers and modern urban life.
Camille Pissarro
The 'patriarch' of Impressionism and the only artist to exhibit in all eight Impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886, dedicated to rural labor and city boulevards.
Berthe Morisot
Founding member of the Impressionist circle who exhibited in seven of the eight independent shows, renowned for spontaneous, featherlight brushwork and intimate domestic scenes.
Alfred Sisley
Anglo-French landscape specialist who remained the most purest dedicated practitioner of outdoor Impressionist landscape painting throughout his entire career.
Mary Cassatt
American painter who joined the Impressionist group in Paris at Degas's invitation, creating brilliant, psychologically astute portrayals of women, mothers, and children.
Famous Artworks
Fun Facts
The term 'Impressionism' was born as a satirical insult when Parisian critic Louis Leroy wrote a scathing review in 'Le Charivari' in April 1874, mocking Claude Monet's painting 'Impression, Sunrise' by complaining that wallpaper in its embryonic state was more finished than his canvas.
↗ Source: britannica.com
To assert their independence from the conservative state-sponsored Salon, the Impressionists pooled their funds to rent the former photography studio of Nadar at 35 Boulevard des Capucines for their revolutionary first group exhibition in 1874.
↗ Source: metmuseum.org
