Impressionist 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.
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
The bright morning sunshine floods a front porch where an inviting scene unfolds. Artist Sherri Aldawood was drawn to the light and cast shadows on this histori...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
A quiet stream cuts through a forest of birch trees in their autumn colors. With thick impasto textures, artist List Elley creates beautiful movement in the col...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Cardboard, Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
"I ran into these flowers during my walk, and I fell in love with them so much," says artist Sri Rao. She captures an enchanting scene wh...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
Late 19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Fabric, Canvas, Wood, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Illustration Board
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1940s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
"It suggests a beautiful fall day in the mountains with the colorful changing leaves on display," shares artist Lisa Elley. Lisa's signature impasto trees come ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1920s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Board, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Impressionist Paintings
Cardboard, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Alix Palo presents a vibrant still life of ranunculus flowers in a glass vase. The painting pulsates with vitality, bursting with coral, red, and yellow ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
1880s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
1980s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1990s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero depicts a bright and airy greenhouse in the New York Botanical Gardens. "The couple introduced me and my wife to this lovely place," share...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
Early 1900s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1940s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 1900s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil