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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21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1950s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Linen
1880s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
A narrow river winds along a snow-covered forest floor, with slender trees casting shadows across the ground. Painted in shades of blue, the scene evokes the ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Sherri Aldawood captures a peaceful moment from her trip to Marbella, Spain. Sunlight fills a narrow alleyway, adorned with vibrant flowers and lush pl...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Gesso, Oil, Acrylic, Stretcher Bars, Canvas, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Linen, Oil
1940s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Golden mustard flowers blanket the field, illuminated by shimmering light that enhances the energy of the spring landscape. Wisps of clouds drift above, while...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
1940s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1940s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Charcoal, Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil Pastel
Early 1900s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A sweeping view of rolling hills showcases rural fields divided into sections of different crops in the distance. Closer to the foreground, the landscape beco...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
1960s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil Pastel
1970s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1950s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1980s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
Early 1900s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
This painting portrays a nature preserve and a bird sanctuary nestled amidst subdivisions. The composition features a tranquil pond surrounded by autumn trees...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Gouache
1930s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1930s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1960s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas