Impressionist Animal 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.
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
With its signature yellow wings edged in black and touched with hints of coral and sky blue, a swallowtail butterfly appears suspended mid-air. Its symmetry a...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
Three birds dip their feet in a stream, with the larger two closely watching the smallest one. Leaves on slender stems surround the small flock, adding a touc...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Ink, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Linen
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Egg Tempera, Panel
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
Artist Comments
A large flock of crows whirls above the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and the Pacific Coast Highway. The orange sun creates a warm backdrop for their silho...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Jeff Fleming captures a cat in its playful nature. Bathed in a soft morning light, this furry tabby frolics in a field of sweet peas, possibly chasing ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Pastel
1880s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
1960s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
1950s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Watercolor, Gouache
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
1950s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Canvas
1990s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
Late 19th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Cardboard, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Jennifer Ross presents a brown bird perched over its three eggs. "A bird's nest is the universal symbol of hope," says Jenni...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
1920s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
1960s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Late 19th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
1980s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Illustration Board
1920s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
1910s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1930s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Early 20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Acrylic, Board
Early 19th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Linen, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Animal Paintings
Watercolor, Paper
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel