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.
La Vague (The Wave)
Located in Palm Desert, CA
"La Vague (The Wave)" is a figurative abstract bronze sculpture created by Camillle Claudel. The artwork is 24 1/4 x 19 x 24 inches, weighing less than 50 lbs. It is signed "C. Claud...
Bronze
$1,750Sale Price|29% Off
Vintage American Modernist Abstract Mixed Media Sculpture Original Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American modernist mixed media sculpture painting by Duayne Hatchett (1925 - 2015) . Mixed media metal sculpture . Signed on verso.
Metal
$328Sale Price|40% Off
A PAIR OF ORIGINAL Scottish Wall Hung Sculpture Compositions GLASGOW INTEREST
Located in Cirencester, GB
Artist: John Taylor (1936-) Scottish Title: "Wall Relief Tiles" (a pair) Medium: oil on board Size: 15cm x 20cm inc. frame & 13cm x 21cm inc. frame Notes: Painter, notably in watercolour, and printmaker, gallery owner and teacher, born in Darvel, Ayrshire. Graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1959, some years later taking a higher diploma in art. Taylor made a big impact on the Scottish gallery scene when in 1963 he opened the New Charing Cross Gallery in Glasgow, giving young artists a chance to exhibit more adventurous work. Taylor had a long association with the Glasgow Print Studio as senior technician. In 1977, with Ainslie Yule, he was recommended by Scottish Arts Council for a residency at Editions Alecto to work on a screenprint. Taylor’s own work could sometimes have a strong polemical element, notably regarding war and the nuclear threat. As well as taking part in many group shows across Europe he was a regular solo exhibitor. Notable among these were Compass Gallery, Glasgow, 1985 and 1987; Richard Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh and Glasgow Print Studio in 1987; and Edinburgh Print...
Oil, Plaster
$20,000
Body Art, Metal Sculpture, Installation, Original Handmade, Ready to Hang
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Betty Bairamian Work: Original Sculpture, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Metal, Wood, Mixed Media Year: 2024 Style: Contemporary Art...
Metal
$2,800
Hives of Bees, Metal Sculpture, Installation, Original Handmade, Ready to Hang
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Betty Bairamian Work: Original Sculpture, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Metal, Wood, Mixed Media Year: 2024 Style: Contemporary Art...
Metal
Rose, Sculpture, Natural Onyx Stone, handmade by Garo
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: (Garo) Karapet Balakeseryan Medium: Natural Onyx Stone, All one piece of work, One of a Kind Year: 2023 Style: Classic, Impressionism, Subject: Rose, Size: 16" x 6'' x 7...
Stone
$2,300
Body Of Mind, Metal Sculpture, Installation, Original Handmade, Ready to Hang
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Betty Bairamian Work: Original Sculpture, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Metal, Wood, Mixed Media Year: 2024 Style: Contemporary Art...
Metal
$2,200
Canyon Lake, Metal Sculpture, Installation, Original Handmade, Ready to Hang
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Betty Bairamian Work: Original Sculpture, Handmade Artwork, One of a Kind Medium: Metal, Wood, Mixed Media Year: 2024 Style: Contemporary Art...
Metal
Untitled #1
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Untitled #1" c.1980 is a painted wood bas-relief by noted California artist Arnold A. Grossman, 1923-2016. It is signed at the lower right corner by the artist. ...
Mixed Media
Across the Divide
Located in Greenwich, CT
American, b. 1961 Jane DeDecker’s energetic and dynamic bronze sculptures serve as a reflection of her own life experiences and those of her closely-knit family. Her twelve nieces and nephews are the primary source of her inspiration, though DeDecker’s sculptures are not portraits. In fact, her loose style leaves her viewers with room for interpretation, so as to see their own lives within her sculptures. This imprecision, combined with her unique ability to capture specific moments to which each viewer can relate on a personal level, regardless of age, give DeDecker’s work a timeless quality that spans generations. DeDecker began her artistic training as a painter at the University of Northern Colorado, until a professor, noticing her joy in the portrayal of shapes and forms, suggested she try her hand at sculpture. Taking his advice, DeDecker went on to study at Gobelins School of Tapestry in...
Bronze
$6,300
H 5.91 in W 6.3 in D 3.75 in
"Felicity" Bronze Sculpture 15" x 16" x 9.5" inch by Sarkis Tossonian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Felicity" Bronze Sculpture 15" x 16" x 9.5" inch by Sarkis Tossonian Sarkis Tossoonian was born in Alexandria in 1953. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts/Sculpture in 1979....
Bronze
$375,000
H 97 in W 12.375 in D 12.375 in
Untitled: (Totem Pole) - Abstract Sculpture, c. 1960
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A major figure in both the Abstract Expressionist and American Figurative Expressionist movements of the 1940s and 1950s, Elaine de Kooning's prolific output defied singular categorization. Her versatile styles explored the spectrum of realism to abstraction, resulting in a career characterized by intense expression and artistic boundary-pushing. A striking example of de Kooning's explosive creativity is Untitled (Totem Pole...
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
$3,750
H 28.5 in W 9 in D 6 in
Ode to the Ancient Monarch aluminum sculpture by James C. Myford
Located in Hudson, NY
This work is aluminum on a black slate base, measuring 28.5" x 9" x 6". Myford's interest in aluminum began in 1970 when he attended a workshop sponsored by Alcoa at the Art Center ...
Slate, Metal
$1,055
H 44 in W 6 in D 3 in
Light TLAS SLT-4026 - Multi-Dimensional Minimalist Abstract Sculptural Artwork
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Artist Len Klikunas paints to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His art is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and sculpture. It employs shiz...
Canvas, Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$545
H 24 in W 6 in D 3 in
Sign A1125 - Modern Abstract Multi-Dimensional Red Minimalist Sculptural Artwork
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Artist Len Klikunas paints to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His art is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and sculpture. It employs shiz...
Canvas, Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$1,055
H 44 in W 6 in D 3.25 in
Light 662LS - Contemporary Multi-Dimensional Minimalist Lavender Sculptural Art
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Artist Len Klikunas paints to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His art is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and sculpture. It employs shiz...
Canvas, Wood, Mixed Media, Acrylic
$278
H 8 in W 8 in
Forces of Nature 2 - Sculptural Abstract Minimalist Textural Artwork on Canvas
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Len Klikunas creates sculptural minimalist artworks to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His original artwork is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between p...
Mixed Media, Canvas
$19,858
H 44.49 in W 7.88 in D 7.09 in
Earth - British Sculptor, Abstract, Marble, Italian Carrara, Philosophy, Figure
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Earth by British sculptor Ian Thomson. Thomson's travels have provided inspiration for his work. He holds degrees in Architecture and Philosophy & describe...
Marble
$5,370
H 48 in W 67 in
My Joyful Heart - Lively Colorful Abstract 3-D Painted Weaving
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Impasto-painted strokes of bright colors are the framework of artist Shiri Phillips’ abstract artworks. Her paintings are flooded with texture through the layering of acrylic paint i...
Wire
$587
H 8.67 in W 8.67 in D 5.52 in
Ceramic Sculpture Duo Playful Human Insect Hybrid Figures Collectible Pair
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Contemporary ceramic sculpture duo featuring two playful human–insect hybrid figures conceived as a flexible and collectible sculptural pair. This work presents a duo from the Bicho...
Ceramic, Epoxy Resin, Oil
$1,055
H 44 in W 6 in D 3.25 in
Light B991 - Modern Pink Multi-Dimensional Minimalist Abstract Sculptural Art
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Artist Len Klikunas paints to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His art is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and sculpture. It employs shiz...
Wood, Acrylic, Mixed Media, Canvas
$775
H 19 in W 19 in
Scandal - Modern White Minimalist 3-D Abstract Wall Sculpture Painting
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Artist Len Klikunas paints to modify experienced reality through visual perception. His art is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and sculpture. It employs shiz...
Gesso, Canvas, Mixed Media, Wood
Sold
H 12.6 in W 7.09 in D 3.55 in
Native North American Hopi Mask Carved in Cottonwood Root.
Located in Cotignac, FR
Native North American carved cottonwood root and painted Hopi mask. In Arizona, Hopi Indians wear masks and costumes to dance to the beat of drums in ritual...
Wood, Paint
Relic and Remnant Set
By John McLeod
Located in Denver, CO
Moose and Moose antler sculpture
Alabaster, Marble, Silver
Alice in Wonderland
Located in Palm Desert, CA
Conceived in 1977; cast at a later date 6338 Literature: Robert Nicolas Descharnes, The Hard and the Soft, Spells for the Magic of Form, Sculptures & Objects, Published by Eccart, il...