Impressionism

Impressionism is an art movement of the 19th century. During that time, the word “impression” for paintings was considered as an insult. Louis Leroy, a critic, called Claude Monet’s “Sunrise” as a mere impression because the painting had broken brush strokes with unblended colours.

Impressionism emerged during a time where portraits and historical paintings were given more importance. A group of artists namely, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, éduard Manet, Frédéric Bazille differed from the realistic renditions in paintings. Eduard Manet faced a lot of rejections from the French Academy, especially for “Luncheon on the grass” in 1863. The public demanded to judge the many rejected paintings by then modern artists for which Napolean III created the Salon of the refused and made it open to the public.

The concept of impressionism is nothing but a glance of visual reality captured by the artist. This “impression” is painted with vibrant colours and blended together with short brush strokes, the natural light being dominant. Some of the famous impressionism works are:

Boulevard montmarte, 1897 by Camille Pissarro

In a park, 1874 by Berthe Morisot

Fog, Voisins, 1874 by Alfred Sisley

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe, 1863 by éduard manet

Sunrise, 1872 by Claude Monet

Bal du moulin de la Galette , 1876 by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

woman with a parasol, 1875 by Claude Monet

Impressionism led to the development of post-impressionism which was emphasized by Paul Cézanne’s naturalistic paintings. Later on, modern artists also used some techniques used in impressionism. Hence, impressionism is the important movement in art history.