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.
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Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Pastel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 1900s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1870s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1930s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1910s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Linen, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
Late 19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Fiery colors light up the sky as the sun sets over calm water. When asked about his process, artist Benjamin Thomas shared that creating this piece took time. H...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Gesso, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Gouache
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Panel, Watercolor
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Linen, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
1970s Impressionist Paintings
Pastel, Wax Crayon
1980s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1920s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1990s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1910s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
The scene captures the vibrant waterfront of a coastal town in San Sebastian, Spain. Boats rest peacefully in the harbor wh...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
Late 19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Golden fields stretch across the horizon. Deep green trees create striking contrasts against the bright yellow landscape, while pops of colorful flowers add e...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Color
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
1960s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor