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.
1970s Impressionist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1880s Impressionist Art
Etching
Artist Comments
This painting depicts a quiet forest with a central pool of water, its surface reflecting the surrounding greenery. Subtle shifts of light create a sense of dep...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
1930s Impressionist Art
Paper, Watercolor
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Watercolor, Gouache
1940s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil Pastel
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1970s Impressionist Art
Etching
1910s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil, Board
1980s Impressionist Art
Oil, Cardboard
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Cardboard
1970s Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1920s Impressionist Art
Oil, Cardboard
1970s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
Artist Comments
A tropical summer unfolds along the banks of a quiet river. Palm trees dot the landscape, their fronds catching the bright sun. The lush foliage reflects on the...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
1950s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Board
1940s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Linen, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
1950s Impressionist Art
Lithograph
Artist Comments
An enchanting scene invites the viewer to walk along the Tiber River in Rome and marvel at the beautiful Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II. The impressionist style cap...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Late 19th Century Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
1920s Impressionist Art
Watercolor
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Cardboard
Artist Comments
A geisha, dressed in a traditional kimono, walks along a stone path beside water. The bold, red obi adorned with an organic motif contrasts with the soft green ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Acrylic
Early 20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
Late 20th Century Impressionist Art
Screen
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil, Cardboard
1910s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Ink
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Paper, Watercolor
Artist Comments
On a beautiful sunny morning, sunlight strikes the corner of a quiet stone house. A palm tree rises on the side, its fronds casting delicate shadows across the ...
21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Archival Paper
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Art
Oil, Panel
2010s Impressionist Art
Linen, Oil
2010s Impressionist Art
Canvas, Oil
20th Century Impressionist Art
Oil





