Impressionism: The Arts

What is Impressionism Art Impressionism Definition Art History. 'Impression, Sunrise' () Artist: Claude Monet [Public domain], via.
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This resulted in some unusual arrangements which emphasized shapes and forms at the edge of the image. Some of Impressionists, like Degas' in his 'Four Dancers', embraced the asymmetrical effects of cropping and made it a prominent feature of their compositions. The bold designs of Japanese woodblock prints, popular in France at the time, were another influence on the Impressionists. Their asymmetrical arrangements, contrasting large areas of flat color with patches of intricate pattern, offered a compositional format that the Impressionists could use to develop their ideas about color Sometimes, even the most avant-garde artists need the security of knowing that the path they have chosen to follow has some roots in tradition.

The Leaders of Impressionism

The compositions of the Ukiyo-e masters such as Hokusai and Hiroshige offered the Impressionists this precedent of tradition, albeit from another culture, and consequently the confidence to forge ahead with their new ideas. The Impressionists were the first group of artists to embrace painting 'en plein air' painting outside. This was partially due to the introduction of paint in tubes which, for the first time, enabled artists to carry all their studio equipment around in a case. They also found it necessary to paint outdoors because they were committed to observing the effects of light on color in nature.

Consequently landscapes, both in the town and countryside, became their most natural and influential subject and is what we immediately associate with Impressionism today. Impressionist portraits and figure compositions with identifiable individuals were painted by Renoir, Degas and Lautrec.

Just in front of them is a seated group that includes the entertainers La Maracona and the red-headed Jane Avril, the writer and critic Edouard Dujardin and the photographer Paul Sescau. The woman whose green lamp lit face is cropped by the edge of the picture is thought to be another dancer, May Milton. Still life was not hugely popular with the Impressionists, mainly because it was not a 'plein air' subject suited to capturing the atmospheric qualities of light and color.

However there are a few outstanding examples such as Renoir's 'Fruit of the Midi' whose fruit and vegetables are carefully chosen to create a range of prismatic colours that span the Impressionist spectrum. Many of the Impressionists experimented with synthetic pigments, especially vibrant new shades of yellow, blue, purple, and green.

Those who focused on landscapes and scenes of everyday life took their canvases outdoors, en plein air. As the construction began to change Paris, the Impressionists captured the appearance of this modern metropolis.

The Impressionist Artists

In Boulevard des Italiens, Morning, Sunlight , Pissarro hints at groups of people by using closely clustered strokes of color to represent a crowded street bustling with figures in top hats and bonnets. Other Impressionists chose to capture the essence of modern life by documenting the industrial infrastructure—trains, bridges, and factories—of Paris, or detailing leisure activities in and around the city. The development of the suburbs was just as important to the Impressionists as the transformation of Paris.


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The expansion of the railroads made areas of the countryside newly accessible to those seeking a respite from the city. Argenteuil, a small suburb fewer than 10 miles from the center of Paris, was one of the most popular retreats.

Among the best-known images of Argenteuil are those painted by Monet, who spent extended periods of time in the small town. The two tiny human figures in the background are overwhelmed by the vibrantly colored flowers, painted in a thick impasto that gives the blooms exaggerated prominence as they seem to pop off the surface of the canvas.

Mary Cassatt Maternal Caress , ca. These two-person boats were designed for more relaxed recreation than the sculls we see in the distance. The rower sat facing his companion, who controlled the rudder by means of ropes. The man in this gig—wearing the boater's typical costume of short jacket and straw hat—may be the artist's brother Edmond. The man standing on the bank, similarly attired, is probably the painter Gustave Caillebotte, a devoted rowing enthusiast. The woman may be Aline Charigot, who became Renoir's wife and was a favorite model.

The painting captures the brilliance of sun and water, summer and youth. In the water, skips of strong blues and white alternate. Their shimmering intensity is enhanced by the equally strong presence of orange in the boat's reflection and the scarlet accent of Aline's bow.

What is Impressionism? Impressionism Art and Impressionism Definition

Renoir has put into practice aspects of current color theory. The principle of simultaneous contrast suggested that colors were perceived more strongly when juxtaposed with their opposites—orange with blue, for example, or green with red. The silky texture of Renoir's feathery brushstrokes mirrors the languid and leisurely scenes.

An elegant young couple steps into a sunlit clearing from the cool of the Fontainebleau forest.

Impressionism

Shadows fall, not in blacks or grays, but as deeper concentrations of the colors around them. Monet championed painting out-of-doors— en plein air —as the only way to capture the sensory experience of light and atmosphere. He sought to transcribe a single instant onto the canvas, and here that momentary quality is enhanced by the pose of the couple, who seem only to have paused.


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Monet knew the pair. This painting was made as an oil sketch for a much larger work 15 x 20 feet whose size made painting outdoors impossible. Instead Monet made smaller preparatory paintings out-of-doors, including this one. Only fragments of the final large canvas survive. Monet left it with a landlord to cover a debt, and it was ruined by moisture and neglect.

What is Impressionism?

From a distance of ten feet or so, Monet's brushstrokes blend to yield a convincing view of the Seine and the pleasure boats that drew tourists to Argenteuil. Up close, however, each dab of paint is distinct, and the scene dissolves into a mosaic of paint—brilliant, unblended tones of blue, red, green, yellow. In the water, quick, fluid skips of the brush mimic the lapping surface.

In the trees, thicker paint is applied with denser, stubbier strokes. The figure in the sailboat is only a ghostly wash of dusty blue, the women rowing nearby are indicated by mere shorthand.

How Impressionism Changed the Art World and Continues to Inspire Us Today

In the early years of impressionism, Monet, Renoir, and others strove to capture the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere on the landscape and to transcribe directly and quickly their sensory experience of it. Monet advised the American artist Lilla Cabot Perry, "When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever. Monet planted gardens wherever he lived. The boy with the wagon is Monet's young son, and on the steps behind him are other members of his extended household.