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.
1920s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Wood Panel, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Giclée, Digital
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas, Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Carey Parks presents an impressionist still life of dainty flowers on a glass cylinder. Taking a small bunch from a large bouq...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Wood Panel
Early 1900s Impressionist Art
Board, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Pigment, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1970s Impressionist Art
Paper
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1940s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Gouache
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Paper, Pencil
2010s Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Tempera, Canvas, Cotton, C Print, Digital, Giclée
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel, Wood Panel
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Panel, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1930s Impressionist Art
Woodcut
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Nava Lundy paints a woman walking along an empty street. She treads along puddles that beautifully showcase the reflections of the architecture and sky i...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
Early 1900s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
1980s Impressionist Art
Board, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1940s Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Lithograph, Stencil
1940s Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Paper, Pastel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Art
Acrylic
1920s Impressionist Art
Oil
1990s Impressionist Art
Oil, Linen
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Gouache
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Board, Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1930s Impressionist Art
Board, Oil
19th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Ink, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 1900s Impressionist Art
Intaglio, Laid Paper, Etching
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Ink, Oil, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Screen
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Cotton, Wood, Varnish, Cotton Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil, Wood Pan...
Artist Comments
Artist Crystal DiPietro captures a majestic mountain range inspired by an immersive backpacking adventure. Her loose brushstrokes create a sense of movement and...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil