Impressionism was an artistic movement that originated in France in the 19th century. It focused on capturing fleeting moments and effects of light using loose brushstrokes and vivid colors. The Impressionists broke from traditional techniques taught by the academies and sought to paint en plein air. Their works featured everyday subjects painted in an spontaneous style that emphasized visual perception over photographic accuracy. Some of the leading Impressionist artists included Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, and Cassatt.

1. Art History

2. Impressionism is a 19th century artistic movement that swept much of
the painting and sculpture styles of the period. It was not just a
passing fad but has defined an entirely modern way of expressing
one’s artistry that eventually rubbed off in other art forms like
literature and photography.

3.  Impressionism is a light, spontaneous manner of painting which began in
France as a reaction against the restrictions and conventions of the
dominant Academic art.
 Concerned with capturing light and a fleeting moment in time.
 Artists used small strokes to simulate actual reflected light.

4. Royal Academies of Art in France and England
The academies had a virtual monopoly on public taste and official patronage.

5. Brief overview of the painters needs
to meet for the Academy:
• Respect for the “hierarchy of genres”:
1st:History painting with religious,
mythological or historical subjects
2nd :Scenes of everyday life
3rd :Portraits
4th :Landscapes
5th :Still life

6. April 15, 1874, The first of eight exhibitions
for a group of artists opened in Paris. The
artists that exhibited their works were called
“rebels”, “intransigents”, “the Japanese
painters” and the “actualists”.
The exhibiting artists were rejected by the
Salon Juries. (The Academy) They formed a
Cooperative Society of Artists-Painters. Thirty
artists showed their work at that time,
including Monet, Renoir, Degas and Pissarro.

7. The Impressionists were branded socialists, anarchists and dangerous
revolutionaries. They were deeply misunderstood. With difficulty Richard
Marx managed to include them in the Universal Exposition (World’s
Fair) of 1900.
When President Loubet arrived at the hall he was greeted by Gerome,
who barred his entrance, exclaiming, “Don’t go in, Mr. President, for
there stands the dishonor of France.” To this mediocre painter,” Manet
was a scribbler, Monet a fraud and Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley…were actual
criminals who were corrupting influences on a generation of young
artists.
Interesting facts:

8. The public, at first hated the paintings. But the tide was
turning. Gradually they came to believe that the Impressionists
had captured a fresh and original vision. The art critics of that
time, continued to disapprove calling the paintings unfinished
sketches.

9. The history of photography commenced with the
invention and development of the camera and the
creation of permanent images starting with
Thomas Wedgwood in 1790 and culminating in
the work of the French inventor Joseph
Nicéphore Niépce in 1826.
Impressionist artists felt the new technology of
Photography was ruining the art of painting.
They felt the need to create a new style of
painting in which accurate rendering of the
subject was not the main focus.
Development of Photography

10. Tubed Paints!
The availability of new pigments and tubed
paints made it easier for artists to paint
outdoors.

11. In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the U.S. Navy lead a fleet of
frigates to Edo, Japan, where he threatened to open fire upon the town if
Japan did not agree to a trade agreement with the U.S. (it was a “closed
country” that did not trade with Europe/U.S.)
Once trade begun, woodblock prints made by Japanese artist’s such as
Hokusai, made their way into the United States and Europe, where they
were eagerly collected by artists.

12. Ways in which European art was influenced by the newly available Japanese
woodblock prints:
• Asymmetry of compositions
• Dramatic cropping of image/picture plane
• Use of flat areas of color/pattern. Less traditional modeling
• Leaving large areas “empty” in a composition.
Hiroshige, ‘Gion Shrine in the Snow’
Henri Riviere, ‘La Tour
en construction, vue de Trocadero’
Claude Monet ‘Waterlilies
and Japanese Bridge', 1899
Edgar Degas ‘Seated Woman
Combing Her Hair’

13. • Light is the source of our experience of color – white light is made up of colored light.
• Local color (the actual color of an object) is modified by the quality of the light & reflections
from other objects.
• Shadows are not black/grey but composed of colors modified by reflections & other
conditions.
• Two complementary colors in small amounts placed next to each other blend in the eye to look
like neutral tones.
• Juxtaposition of colors on canvas for the eye to fuse at a distance produces a more intense hue
then mixing them
(based on scientific and medical discoveries)

14. Rendering the visual world as it appears to the eye, not as it actually exists.
Capturing a quick, spontaneous “impression” of an image: Optical sensations.
• Visible brushstrokes
• Light Colors
• Emphasis on Light and the changing qualities of it
• Ordinary Subject Matter
• Unusual Visual Angles
• Open Compositions

15. • Everyday life
• Landscape painting
• Countryside and seaside: often focus
on modern life in suburban scenes
• Bourgeoisie at leisure (sailing, café
life, modern entertainment)
• Cityscapes – especially Paris

16. In paintings made en plein air (outdoors), shadows are boldly painted with
the blue of the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of
freshness and openness that was not captured in painting previously. (Blue
shadows on snow inspired the technique.)

20. Claude Monet: Lily ponds & Gardens
Auguste Renoir: People Outdoors
Edgar Degas: Dancers and Theater
Camille Pissarro: Cities and Streets
Alfred Sisley: Rivers and Landscapes
Mary Cassatt: Mothers and Children

21. Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting (often
called “The Father of Impressionism”, and the most consistent and prolific
painter of the movement's philosophy.
In the latter half of his life, Monet bought house in Giverny (rural France),
where he constructed a large, lush garden in which he painted.
b. 1840 – d. 192

22. was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the predecessor of
modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past. He was schooled
traditionally, took a craftsman-like approach to his work, and desired academic
recognition, although he was never accepted into Paris's foremost school of art.
His work is considered Impressionist because of the rough surfaces and the
multiplicity of plans.
In Rodin’s opinion, beauty in art consisted of a truly depiction of the internal state
and for achieving that aim he used a certain distort of the anatomy.
b. 1841– d. 1919

23. • Instead of painting outdoors, Degas painted in a studio from
sketches and photographs in both oil and pastel.
• Degas's only showing of sculpture during his life took place
in 1881 when he exhibited The Little Dancer of Fourteen
Years, only shown again in 1920; the rest of the sculptural
works remained private until a subsequent exhibition in
1918.
• Subjects: the racetrack, the music hall, the ballet/opera, and
series of bathing women.
b. 1834 – d. 1917

24. (b.1830 –d.1903)
Many of Pissarro’s painting depict where urban meets nature. He
focused on using lighter colors and loose, short, choppy brushstrokes.

25. • American-born artist that studied in Pennsylvania, then moved with
her sister to France.
• Became friends with Edgar Degas who became her mentor.
• Subjects are mainly of domestic scenes: women and children.
• Paintings often show quiet moments between mother and child.
• Strong sense of translucency in the skin tones of her figures.