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.
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Ink, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
A woman sits outside a Philadelphia bistro, reading her book. The bright morning light shines through the establishment's windows, revealing a glimpse of its i...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cotton Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Egg Tempera
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Gold Leaf
Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero shares a tender moment of children swimming by the sea. Part of a series of summer paintings that explo...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Pastel
Artist Comments
Sunlight illuminates the garden while weathered interior walls bask over the passage of time. It tells the story of a home once alive with the sound of children...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Masonite
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Capturing the vast beauty of nature, this painting showcases endless fields gently rising and falling beneath an expansive sky. Lush, undulating meadows, golden...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Wood, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A red fox curls up on the snow, its fiery coat glowing against the icy background. Bold strokes capture the texture of its thick fur. The painting radiates both...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Wood, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Cardboard, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
The evening sun bathes the historic village of Obidos, Portugal, in warm golden light, casting soft shadows on whitewashed buildings. A winding cobblestone stre...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
Artist Comments
León, Spain, buzzes with energy, especially as a key stop along the Camino de Santiago. By night, the city truly comes alive, with locals, pilgrims, and touris...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Working on the subject of water lilies and sunset reflections, artist Onelio Marrero portrays a pond mirroring the colors of the sk...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Charcoal, Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A man stands in front of a Picasso painting exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The considerable time he spends in front of the artw...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Stanislav Sidorov captures a couple walking in a fairytale-looking town. The street light accentuates the building's medieval details and casts a drama...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor