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
Acrylic, Canvas
Artist Comments
Bluebonnet flowers grow on the side of the road on a hilltop plateau near Carta Valley, Texas. Their petals show a vibrant contrast to the lush greens of the ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Four bottles of bourbon stand in alignment. Their rich amber hues subtly shift under the light. They echo the profound meaning behind their name, "living wate...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
A cluster of cacti bask in the warm afternoon light near Del Rio, Texas. The radiant sun highlights their prickly exteriors and vibrant colors. Contrasting wi...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
This flower field mirrors the enchantment one might discover in a hidden forest, concealing the rabbit hole that led Alice to Wonderland. Various shades of purp...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
Artist Comments
Three young dancers style their hair, racing against time before a show. The vibrant brushwork and colors portray the lively and intense energy of dance prepara...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
A playful interaction between shapes and colors in nature unfolds in this fantastical landscape. Two predominant areas of light create a silhouette, casting oth...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil, Panel
Artist Comments
California's Slow Coast is a nature lover's paradise. Stretching from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz, hiking trails provide views of wildlife and stunning ocean vi...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Paintings
Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Oil, Wood Panel
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Paintings
Canvas, Oil