Impressionism by: Mason Petrancosta
Impression is an artistic movement that started in France
Impressionism can be described as trying to capture the fleeting moment, and the optical sensation produced by the effect of weather, light, or movement. A commentator at an Impressionist exhibition in 1874 described Impressionism elegantly when he said, “…they render, not the landscape, but the sensation produced by the landscape” (National Gallery of Art). It was literally the mood, or impression the artists perceived of a setting. Impressionists commonly tried to incorporate movement into their paintings, and tried to paint people in spontaneous poses like photographs did. Impressionism has a variety of characteristic features. Rather than carefully mixing their colors to get a perfect shade, the Impressionists used unmixed colors. Impressionists would use broken brushstrokes of bright colors to make their pieces seem spontaneous. Doing these things caused their pieces to have densely textured surfaces instead of smooth even surfaces. Instead of painting historical paintings the Impressionists preferred to paint landscapes, informal portraits, and still life paintings. Most Impressionists painted outdoors, and they just painted what they saw. Impressionist painters would give liveliness to their brushstrokes making their artwork look spontaneous like a sketch. They also paint different colors on wet paint creating blurred contours and softened forms. In addition they tended not to use black or earth colors, and would use complementary colors for shadows. Another common technique they used was to use impasto, or thick dabs of paint rather than glazes, thin layers of paint. Famous Impressionist painters are Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro.
In the late 1880’s the Impressionist group began to break up, but in the 1890’s their paintings started to attract more buyers. Newer middle-class collectors who had fewer prejudices to art especially liked Impressionism. In all, Impressionism was a relatively short art movement in France, but did gain popularity in other parts of the world and has remained well known (Thomson, 2008) (Impressionism Overview) and popular.
Impressionism can be described as trying to capture the fleeting moment, and the optical sensation produced by the effect of weather, light, or movement. A commentator at an Impressionist exhibition in 1874 described Impressionism elegantly when he said, “…they render, not the landscape, but the sensation produced by the landscape” (National Gallery of Art). It was literally the mood, or impression the artists perceived of a setting. Impressionists commonly tried to incorporate movement into their paintings, and tried to paint people in spontaneous poses like photographs did. Impressionism has a variety of characteristic features. Rather than carefully mixing their colors to get a perfect shade, the Impressionists used unmixed colors. Impressionists would use broken brushstrokes of bright colors to make their pieces seem spontaneous. Doing these things caused their pieces to have densely textured surfaces instead of smooth even surfaces. Instead of painting historical paintings the Impressionists preferred to paint landscapes, informal portraits, and still life paintings. Most Impressionists painted outdoors, and they just painted what they saw. Impressionist painters would give liveliness to their brushstrokes making their artwork look spontaneous like a sketch. They also paint different colors on wet paint creating blurred contours and softened forms. In addition they tended not to use black or earth colors, and would use complementary colors for shadows. Another common technique they used was to use impasto, or thick dabs of paint rather than glazes, thin layers of paint. Famous Impressionist painters are Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro.
In the late 1880’s the Impressionist group began to break up, but in the 1890’s their paintings started to attract more buyers. Newer middle-class collectors who had fewer prejudices to art especially liked Impressionism. In all, Impressionism was a relatively short art movement in France, but did gain popularity in other parts of the world and has remained well known (Thomson, 2008) (Impressionism Overview) and popular.
Works Cited
Impressionism Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2008, from National Gallery of Art: http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg86/gg86-over1.html#jump
Thomson, B. (2008). Impressionism. Retrieved October 2008, from Microsoft Encata: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553672_2/Impressionism_(art).html#howtocite
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