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
$326Sale 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
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
$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
$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
Starry Night Party - Original Wall Sculpture
Located in AMSTERDAM, NL
Uri Dushy's pop art piece stands out as a testament to his decades-long exploration of art's origins, blending artistic genres to forge provocative and captivating creations. This pi...
Metal
$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
$278
H 8 in W 8 in
Forces of Nature 20 - Rich Textured Abstract Minimalist Beige Canvas Painting
By Len Klikunas
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Len Klikunas paints minimalist artworks to modify experienced reality through visual perception. The Blocks series is a mix of art and architecture, hovering between painting and scu...
Gesso, Canvas, Mixed Media
Mother & Child
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
The sculpture titled "Mother & Child" by Bettina Seitz beautifully captures the intimate bond between a caregiver and an infant through its elegant form. Crafted from a unique white ...
Stone
$3,000
H 26 in W 12 in D 12 in
Fluctuation - Large Organic Nature Inspired Modernist Abstract Sculpture
By Jacob Burmood
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This original sculpture is created in cold-cast aluminum, which interacts beautifully with its environment and reflects light in nuanced ways. Because of the reflective surface of aluminum, the sculpture takes on different appearances depending on the lighting conditions: In bright lighting, the sculpture appears more vibrant and silver-toned, showcasing its lustrous finish and fluid contours. The high contrast highlights every curve and swirl, giving it a striking, almost glowing presence. In softer or dimmer light, the tones become more muted and subtle. The sculpture takes on a pewter-like appearance, with deeper shadows and a more understated elegance. This makes it a perfect fit for a variety of settings, adapting to its surroundings and changing mood with the light. The sculpture’s color and finish are consistent; the perceived changes are purely the result of lighting. The color variations in the photos are a testament to the material’s responsiveness to light. If you’re placing it in a room with changing daylight or adjustable lighting, you’ll enjoy how it shifts throughout the day, almost like a living piece of art. Jacob Burmood creates undulating abstract cold cast aluminum sculptures, intuitively redefining aesthetic shapes and visual perceptions. His sculptures draw connections between nature-inspired, organically composed objects, rejecting the rigid structure of geometric abstraction in favor of harmonious compositions that seem to move before the eye. This original cold-cast aluminum sculpture is 26 inches tall by 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep. Free local Los Angeles area delivery. Affordable Continental U.S. and worldwide shipping is available. A certificate of authenticity issued by the art gallery is included. The sculpture Burmood's artworks are inspired by modernist and bio-morphic sculpture...
Metal
$462Sale Price|20% Off
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
More than 50 Shades in Grey
By Angela Lane
Located in Westport, CT
Angela Lane’s three-dimensional abstract canvases are organic structures that synthesize distinct elements. The core of the work is the painter’s pursuit ...
Canvas, Acrylic
$261Sale Price|20% Off
H 1.97 in W 1.97 in D 6.3 in
Curved Ceramic Sculpture Anthropomorphic Hybrid Creature Polychrome Small Object
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Curved ceramic sculpture depicting an anthropomorphic hybrid creature, combining human facial features with insect-like elements and polychrome surface. This work belongs to the ser...
Ceramic, Epoxy Resin, Oil
$6,800
H 22 in W 8 in D 5 in
Female Torso in Bronze Finish - Contemporary Figurative Sculpture by Zura
By Zura
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This work encapsulates Zura's deep exploration of the human form, rendered with raw immediacy and emotional resonance. The sculpture’s sensuous curves and rough, tactile surface invi...
Bronze
$261Sale Price|20% Off
H 5.91 in W 3.15 in D 2.37 in
Curved Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture Human Insect Hybrid Creature Loop Form
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Curved ceramic sculpture depicting a human–insect hybrid creature, combining a looped organic form with a distorted human face and expressive surface. This work belongs to the serie...
Ceramic, Epoxy Resin, Oil
$6,800
H 27 in W 72 in D 2 in
Interweave - White, grey, silver, abstract, three dimensional, wall sculpture
By Lucy Maki
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Maki's work is influenced by early Modernist Abstraction, while her combination of materials and technique make the pieces uniquely her own. This work, in subtle shades of white, gra...
Metal
$5,900
H 13 in W 9 in D 6 in
"Clara" Bronze Sculpture 13" x 9" x 6" inch by Sarkis Tossonian
Located in Culver City, CA
"Clara" Bronze Sculpture 13" x 9" x 6" inch by Sarkis Tossonian Sarkis Tossoonian was born in Alexandria in 1953. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts/Sculpture in 1979. He st...
Bronze
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...