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.
1980s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal
1990s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Charcoal, Pastel
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Vellum
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Gouache
19th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Graphite
Artist Comments
A curved staircase leads upward, where people ascend, their forms casting intriguing shadows against the warm light. The blues and grays of the sky and struct...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1930s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil Pastel
1960s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Pencil
1980s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Chalk, Pastel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Pastel, Watercolor
1990s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
Artist Comments
A cluster of shacks perches on the shallow side of the water. During a trip to Sausalito, California, artist Thomas Hoerber detours to the back of San Francis...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1920s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor, Illustration Board
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Laid Paper
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1970s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel
1940s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Pastel, Color Pencil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Charcoal, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Pastel, Gouache
1890s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
India Ink, Illustration Board
1890s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Pastel
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1940s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Laid Paper
1940s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Paper
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Late 19th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
1980s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Cardboard, Pencil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Ink
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Graphite
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Vellum
1930s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Color Pencil, Watercolor, Paper
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Graphite
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Early 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Gouache, Cardboard
1890s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor
20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1950s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Oil Pastel
2010s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
1940s Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Gouache
Late 20th Century Impressionist Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Watercolor, Archival Paper