Impressionist Art
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.
19th Century Impressionist Art
Paper, Mixed Media
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Cardboard, Canvas, Oil
1990s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Board, Oil
1860s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 1900s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
19th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Cardboard, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1880s Impressionist Art
Oil, Linen
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
20th Century Impressionist Art
Fabric, Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1960s Impressionist Art
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Laid Paper, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1940s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
A quiet stream cuts through a forest of birch trees in their autumn colors. With thick impasto textures, artist List Elley creates beautiful movement in the col...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Artist Comments
The bright morning sunshine floods a front porch where an inviting scene unfolds. Artist Sherri Aldawood was drawn to the light and cast shadows on this histori...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil, Illustration Board
1920s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
"I ran into these flowers during my walk, and I fell in love with them so much," says artist Sri Rao. She captures an enchanting scene wh...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
"It suggests a beautiful fall day in the mountains with the colorful changing leaves on display," shares artist Lisa Elley. Lisa's signature impasto trees come ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Alix Palo presents a vibrant still life of ranunculus flowers in a glass vase. The painting pulsates with vitality, bursting with coral, red, and yellow ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
20th Century Impressionist Art
Fabric, Canvas, Wood, Oil
1990s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Board, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Wood, Paint
2010s Impressionist Art
Panel, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
1890s Impressionist Art
Linen, Oil
1880s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
1990s Impressionist Art
Cardboard, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
1980s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil