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.
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1920s Impressionist Art
Paper, Ink
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1930s Impressionist Art
Oil
1990s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
1940s Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Lithograph
1920s Impressionist Art
Paper, Ink
2010s Impressionist Art
Color, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1940s Impressionist Art
Cardboard, Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Sri Rao portrays an idyllic morning in the heart of Iowa's countryside. The sun timidly peeks from a veil of clouds, casting a sof...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1980s Impressionist Art
Paper, Watercolor
1920s Impressionist Art
Paper, Ink
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1970s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
1990s Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
"I wanted to show the ideal daily farm life in Iowa," shares artist Sri Rao. She captures the crisp, sunny morning with cows mooing and w...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
1890s Impressionist Art
Carbon Pencil
1970s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Artist David Thelen captures the beauty of the outdoors in this composition. "When I was renovating my home, I often found myself enjoying the summer colors out...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1940s Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Lithograph, Stencil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Laid Paper
Artist Comments
Artist Catherine McCargar captures the peaceful ambiance of a September morning in the countryside. She paints a view of Harmony, a tiny town along the central California coast just south of Cambria. The iconic farmhouse is enveloped by soft golden grasses and cool blue hills, imparting a tranquil feel to the scenic surroundings.
About the Artist
Impressionist Catherine McCargar expresses her deep admiration of nature through landscape paintings of Northern California...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Watercolor
Artist Comments
"Every fall season, I embark on a sojourn to the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains to soak in the changing fall colors of the birch and quaking aspens," says arti...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Pencil, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Artist Alix Palo presents an alluring still life of ranunculus flowers in a glass vase. The painting exudes vitality, blooming in coral, red, and yellow hues. T...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
1910s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1980s Impressionist Art
Gouache
1930s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Inspired by the azure waters of iconic Lake Tahoe, artist Lisa Elley portrays the beauty of the mountains in the fall season. Her signature impasto technique ca...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Satin Paper, Paper, Color
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Color
1920s Impressionist Art
Woodcut
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist David Thelen presents a serene spot nestled in a mountain range. The water's edge glimmers at the foot of towering trees, while lush foliage adorns the f...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil