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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1980s Impressionist Art
Pen, Laid Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Linen, Oil, Panel
1970s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
1970s Impressionist Art
Masonite, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1990s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Watercolor
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Paper, Oil
1960s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Lacquer, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil Pastel
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1960s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Tapestry
20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Early 1900s Impressionist Art
Lithograph
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Lacquer, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
1910s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1910s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1960s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
Wildflowers bloom along a cliffside as clouds reflect the energy of crashing waves. Vibrant colors and thick textures bring the coastal landscape to life. Artis...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Early 2000s Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil
1940s Impressionist Art
Watercolor
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
The Pavillon de Flore at the Louvre glows in the setting sun, its large windows catching the warm light. Ornate statues add to the building’s timeless charm. ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
1890s Impressionist Art
Etching
2010s Impressionist Art
Linen, Oil, Panel
1960s Impressionist Art
Oil
19th Century Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1890s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1930s Impressionist Art
Oil, Canvas
Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero lives just minutes from the New Jersey shore, where he and his wife enjoy long walks along the beach. In the quieter winter months, the ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Archival Paper
19th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1980s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1950s Impressionist Art
Paper, Watercolor, Cardboard, Screen
Artist Comments
Artist Onelio Marrero shares a tender moment of children swimming by the sea. Part of a series of summer paintings that explo...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Watercolor