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.
Baby Eggplant, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Apricots and Cherries, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Tomatoes, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This image from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. It is...
Mixed Media
Iris, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This image of an Iris in my garden is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and casein hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. It is 10...
Mixed Media
Fennel Bulb, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This image from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. It is...
Mixed Media
Garlic, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Blood Orange, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Limes in a Bowl, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Feta with Breadsticks and Olives, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Parsnips, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Duval and Herring, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Sweet Potatoes, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Purple and Orange Carrots, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Roquefort with Wine, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Lychees, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Pear and Grapes, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This still life from my Kitchen Series is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate process over cyanotype on watercolor paper. ...
Mixed Media
Magical Metroplis, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Magical Metropolis, a large abstract cityscape in blue, cream, grey and yellow. A cool, wintry sort of painting with a magical vibe to lift your Christmas mood. Beautiful colour and ...
Mixed Media
$3,800
"Black & White Food to Go" (FRAMED) Abstract Painting 36 x 48" in by Yoram Katz
By Yoram Katz
Located in Culver City, CA
"Black & White Food to Go" (FRAMED) Abstract Painting 36 x 48" in by Yoram Katz Comes in frame Size framed: 37 x 48 inch Medium: Food To Go Used Containers and spray Paint on ...
Mixed Media, Board
Susan and the Red Chair, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Charcoal and oil painting of woman leaning on back of large chair :: Mixed Media :: Impressionist :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artis...
Mixed Media
My Mistake 4, Mixed Media on Paper
By Amy Bernays
Located in Yardley, PA
Painted digital print :: Mixed Media :: Impressionist :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: No :: Signed: Yes :: Sig...
Mixed Media
Cafe Intelligencia 2, Mixed Media on Paper
By Amy Bernays
Located in Yardley, PA
Painted digital print :: Mixed Media :: Impressionist :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenticity signed by the artist :: Ready to Hang: No :: Signed: Yes :: Sig...
Mixed Media
Lismnore Castle Ireland, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
digitally manipulated photography, printed on cotton sateen, hand quilted, taller-wrapped on stretched canvas from my Echoes series. :: Mixed Media :: Impressionist :: This piece com...
Mixed Media
Homage to Vincent, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
digitally manipulated photography, printed on cotton sateen, hand quilted, gallery wrapped oon stretched canvas :: Mixed Media :: Impressionist :: This piece comes with an official c...
Mixed Media
White Pitcher with Flowers
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Original painting on ceramic tile, then glazed. Signed by the Artist on the lower left. 4 piece set.
Ceramic, Paint, Glaze
OLALLA, Mixed Media on Wood Panel
Located in Yardley, PA
The Making of OLALLA Inspired by hometown where my studio is in the Pacific Northwest, OLALLA is a sweepingly large landscape at 24 x 60. Its soft muted tones speak to the scenic ...
Mixed Media
WAVE LIGHT, Mixed Media on Wood Panel
Located in Yardley, PA
The Making of WAVE LIGHT When I created WAVE LIGHT, I was drawing on moments in the surf where the water can look two totally different tones within just...
Mixed Media
Endurance, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
Acrylic painting on paper. Original limited edition c-prints (20) on Canson Infinity Rag, 100% cotton museum grade white Fine Art paper or similar. :: Mixed Media :: Impressionist ...
Mixed Media
Appreciate what you have, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Title - Appreciate what you have “Appreciate what you have before time makes you appreciate what you had.†Size: 48 x 48 inches This is a one of a kind authentic painting...
Mixed Media
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, France, Mixed Media on Paper
Located in Yardley, PA
This image of a foggy morning in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, France is offered as a unique print using watercolor pigment and gum arabic hardened with the bichromate bichromate process over ...
Mixed Media
"Galleons"
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by: M. Elizabeth Price (1877 – 1965) Harer signed period frame. Mary Elizabeth Price was born in West Virginia and raised on a farm in Solebury, Pennsylvania, on the outskirts of New Hope. She studied at the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Hugh Breckenridge. Additionally, she studied in New Hope with William Lathrop. Following her art studies, Price went to New York. While there, she conducted the “Baby...
Gold Leaf
"USA Battleships, Hudson River NY"
By Hayley Lever
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Signed LR Born in Adelaide, Australia, Hayley Lever was known for his town-shore landscapes and still-life painting in a style that combined impressionism with vivid colors and stro...
Mixed Media, Oil Pastel
Tribute to Matisse
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
Original painting on ceramic tile then glazed. Signed by the Artist on the lower left. #318 2 piece set.
Ceramic, Paint, Glaze