This document provides an overview of Impressionism in Europe and America between 1870-1900. It discusses the Industrial Revolution and sociopolitical changes that influenced art during this period. It then focuses on Impressionism, examining the formal elements, subject choices, interest in sensation/impermanence, and importance of light/color theory for Impressionist artists. Key Impressionist works and artists are mentioned, including Monet, Caillebotte, Pissarro, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Morisot, and Whistler. Japonisme and its influence on later Impressionism is also addressed.

1. 1
Impressionism
Europe and America, 1870 to 1900

2. 2
Industrialization of Europe and U.S. about 1850

3. 3
Goals
• Understand why the Industrial Revolution, Darwinism, Marxism
and sociopolitical changes altered ideas about the nature and
subject matter of art in the later 19th century.
• Examine the meanings of “Modernism” and “Realism”
philosophically and in the appearance of art and architecture.
• Understand the formal and content issues of the Impressionists.
• Examine experiments in materials and form in art at the turn of
the century.

4. 4
Impressionism
• Understand the formal elements and subject choices of the
Impressionist artists.
• Examine the Impressionists’ interest in sensation,
impermanence, and the “fleeting moment” as it was
expressed in their art.
• Understand the importance of light and color theory in the
work of the Impressionists.
• Recognize representative Impressionist artists and works.

5. 5CLAUDE MONET, Impression: Sunrise, 1872. Oil on canvas, 1’ 7 1/2” x 2’ 1 1/2”. Musée Marmottan, Paris.

6. 6
CLAUDE MONET, Rouen Cathedral: The Portal (in Sun),
1894. Oil on canvas, 3’ 3 1/4” x 2’ 1 7/8”. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York (Theodore M. Davis Collection,
bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915).

7. 7
CLAUDE MONET, Saint-Lazare Train Station, 1877. Oil on canvas, 2’ 5 3/4” x 3’ 5”. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

8. 8
GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE, Paris: A Rainy Day, 1877. Oil on canvas, 6’ 9” x 9’ 9”. The Art Institute of Chicago,
Chicago, (Worcester Fund).

9. 9
CAMILLE PISSARRO, La Place du Théâtre Français, 1898. Oil on canvas, 2’ 4 1/2” x 3’ 1/2”. Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, Los Angeles (the Mr. and Mrs. George Gard De Sylva Collection).

10. 10PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876. Oil on canvas, 4’ 3” x 5’ 8”. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

11. 11
ÉDOUARD MANET, Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882. Oil on canvas, 3’ 1” x 4’ 3”. Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London.

12. 12
EDGAR DEGAS, Ballet Rehearsal, 1874. Oil on canvas, 1’ 11” x 2’ 9”. Glasgow Art Galleries and Museum, Glasgow

13. 13
BERTHE MORISOT, Villa at the Seaside, 1874. Oil on canvas, 1’ 7 3/4” x 2’ 1/8". Norton Simon Art Foundation, Los Angeles.

14. 14
Japonisme and Later Impressionism
• Examine issues of other Impressionist, such as the influence
of the Japanese print and concerns with formal elements.

15. Left: EDGAR DEGAS, The Tub, 1886. Pastel, 1’ 11 ½” X 2’ 8 3/8”. Musee d’Orsay, Paris.
Right: TORII KIYONAGA, detail of Two Women at the Bath, ca. 1780. Color woodblock,
full print 10 ½” X 7 ½”, detail 3 ¾” X 3 ½”. Musee Guimet, Paris.
15

16. 16
MARY CASSATT, The Bath, ca. 1892. Oil on canvas,
3’ 3” x 2’ 2”. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
(Robert A. Walker Fund).

17. 17
JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL WHISTLER,
Nocturne in Black and Gold (The Falling Rocket),
ca. 1875. Oil on panel, 1’ 11 5/8” x 1’ 6 1/2”.
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
(gift of Dexter M. Ferry Jr.).

18. 18
Reflection Question
 Impressionist artists broke from many of the conventions
of traditional art. Citing examples, identify how they
broke from the past.
 Chose one impressionist and describe, citing examples,
how their subject matter or techniques were similar to or
different from that of the other impressionists?​

19. 19
Source:
Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 13e, Chapter 31