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.
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, Board
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Illustration Board
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil Pastel, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Oil Crayon, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1910s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
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
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Gesso, Mixed Media, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
1910s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Illustration Board
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
Artist Comments
Three children show quiet determination as they dig for sand dollars during low tide. Their curiosity and focus bring wonder to the coastal scene. Energetic str...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard