What is impressionism?

Impressionism began in France when a group of young and talented artists decided to rebel against the established art critics, so they formed a new style of painting all their own. Impressionists wanted to capture a moment in time. When was the Impressionist style of art popular? The Impressionist movement began in the 1860s and became most popular in the 1870s and 1880s. What are the characteristics of Impressionism? The Impressionists wanted to capture a moment in time. They were more concerned with the light and colour of the moment than with the details of objects they were painting. They often painted outdoors and worked quickly to capture the light before it changed. They used rapid brush strokes and often used unmixed colour to save time. They used unusual visual angles and common everyday subjects. 

Examples of Impressionist Art

Famous Impressionist Artists

Claude MonetThe Seine at

Port-Villez 1894Oil on canvas

Armand Guillaumin

Moret-sur-Loing 1902

Edouard Manet -

A realist painter for much of his career, Manet's artwork bridged

between Realism and Impressionism and gave the Impressionists credibility.Claude Monet

- Arguably the founder of the

Impressionist movement, Monet painted many series of

objects in different lighting. It was his painting, Impression:

Sunrise that gave birth to the name Impressionism.Berthe Morisot

- One of the original Impressionists, Berthe

was the only woman to display her artwork in the first Impressionist exhibition.

Camille Pissarro - Older than the rest of the Impressionists,

Pissarro helped to mentor and lead the younger artists. He displayed artwork in all

eight of

the Impressionist exhibitions.

Pierre

-Auguste Renoir

- Part of the original group of Impressionists, Renoir lived in poverty early on, but became

successful by the end of the 1880s.

Many of his paintings such as Dance at Le moulin de la Galette and On the Terrace have

become world famous

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