Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Emerging in 19th-century France, Impressionist art embraced loose brushwork and plein-air painting to respond to the movement of daily life. Although the pioneers of the Impressionist movement — Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir — are now household names, their work was a radical break with an art scene led and shaped by academic traditions for around two centuries. These academies had oversight of a curriculum that emphasized formal drawing, painting and sculpting techniques and historical themes.
The French Impressionists were influenced by a group of artists known as the Barbizon School, who painted what they witnessed in nature. The rejection of pieces by these artists and the later Impressionists from the salons culminated in a watershed 1874 exhibition in Paris that was staged outside of the juried systems. After a work of Monet’s was derided by a critic as an unfinished “impression,” the term was taken as a celebration of their shared interest in capturing fleeting moments as subject matter, whether the shifting weather on rural landscapes or the frenzy of an urban crowd. Rather than the exacting realism of the academic tradition, Impressionist paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings represented how an artist saw a world in motion.
Many Impressionist painters were inspired by the perspectives in imported Japanese prints alongside these shifts in European painting — Édouard Manet drew on ukiyo-e woodblock prints and depicted Japanese design in his Portrait of Émile Zola, for example. American artists such as Mary Cassatt and William Merritt Chase, who studied abroad, were impacted by the work of the French artists, and by the late 19th century American Impressionism had its own distinct aesthetics with painters responding to the rapid modernization of cities through quickly created works that were vivid with color and light.
Find a collection of authentic Impressionist art on 1stDibs.
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Crayon
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Late 19th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Permanent Marker
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Artist Comments
Artist Catherine McCargar illustrates alluring red flowers in a background of white. She captures the delicacy and transparency of gorgeous poppies she noticed in a local public garden. She creates a somewhat stylized arrangement of blooming stems. "It is punctuated by the addition of the buds as they dangle before bursting forth the seed capsules that remain after the petals drop," says Catherine.
About the Artist
Impressionist Catherine McCargar expresses her deep admiration of nature through landscape paintings of Northern California...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Pencil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
1910s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Graphite
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Artist Comments
A rustic white barn stands in quiet solitude, its weathered walls telling a story of the past. A dirt path winds toward a misty, atmospheric backdrop. The sof...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Artist Comments
A quaint restaurant in Little Italy, San Diego, California, invites visitors to enjoy a fulfilling meal. Shadows, signage, and reflections create visual intri...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache
1970s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1970s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
Artist Comments
Artist Joanie Fords captures the beauty of Tucson, Arizona in this pastel artwork. Soft, glowing light filters through the terrain, contrasting the lush green c...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
Artist Comments
The simple arrangement of mackerels and lemons creates a strong diagonal composition. Complementary colors enhance the palette. Selective and soft brushstrokes ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1940s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal
20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Gouache