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
Oil, Panel
19th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
1980s Impressionist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Archival Paper
Artist Comments
A majestic pronghorn antelope buck sits at the heart of a darkening prairie. The rich, warm tones and subtle background details emphasize the animal’s disti...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Panel, Wood Panel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A bird of paradise charms with its beauty. Its fiery petals contrast vividly with the lush green leaves. Inspired by her photograph taken during a stroll in S...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Sunlight filters through the arches of a hidden courtyard in Seville, casting dappled shadows on the foliage and potted plants. The warm tones of the building...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Paint
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Plaster, Oil, Illustration Board
20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1940s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board, Paper
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
1960s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Watercolor
Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero paints a raft of ducks swimming in a pond surrounded by spring foliage. "I have been observing ducks in their habitats in order to paint...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1920s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Pastel
Late 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Resin, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Gouache, Paper
1930s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Warren Keating captures two figures in motion as they navigate the vibrant setting of Art Basel. Broad, expressive brushstrokes convey movement and flu...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1920s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
Early 20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board