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
Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Jeff Fleming captures a cat in its playful nature. Bathed in a soft morning light, this furry tabby frolics in a field of sweet peas, possibly chasing ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Karen d’Angeac Mihm lived in Germany with her family for a few years. She loved painting the villages they would visit. This particular scene was in ...
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
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
A woman peruses a store in search of antiques while brilliant sunlight rakes the window and objects on display. The contrasts of light and shadows match the coo...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Linen, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Gouache
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Panel
Artist Comments
Refined elegance exudes from a bottle of Macallan Terra, a rich amber whisky poured into a tasting glass, and a finely rolled cigar. Warm tones and soft textu...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Ink, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Paper, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Linen
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
Artist Comments
Coastal Davenport, California, comes alive with the essence of the Pacific coast in artist Lisa Elley's impressionist seascape. Rugged cliffs meet the gentle ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Spray Paint
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic