Impressionism
In the middle of the 19th century, France underwent rapid industrialization and social change while Emperor Napoleon III rebuilt Paris. The Académie controlled French art standards during this turbulent period. Historical subjects, religious themes, and portraits held value within its walls. Landscape and still life paintings were considered unworthy by the institution. Paintings required precise brush strokes carefully blended to hide the artist's hand. Colour remained restrained and often toned down with thick golden varnish. Four young painters met in the early 1860s under academic artist Charles Gleyre. Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille shared an interest in painting landscape and contemporary life. They ventured into the countryside together to paint in open air. Their purpose was not to make sketches for studio development but to complete paintings outdoors. By painting directly from nature, they developed a lighter manner extending Realism further. A favourite meeting place became the Café Guerbois on Avenue de Clichy in Paris. Discussions there were often led by Édouard Manet, whom the younger artists greatly admired. Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, and Armand Guillaumin soon joined their circle. During the 1860s, the Salon jury routinely rejected about half of works submitted by Monet and his friends. In 1863, the jury rejected Manet's The Luncheon on the Grass primarily because it depicted a nude woman with two clothed men at a picnic. While the Salon accepted nudes in historical paintings, they condemned placing a realistic nude in a contemporary setting. Emperor Napoleon III saw the rejected works that year and decreed the public could judge them themselves. The Salon of the Refused drew more visitors than the regular Salon despite many coming only to laugh.
In December 1873, Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, and several other artists founded an association to exhibit independently. Members expected to forswear participation in the official Salon exhibitions. Organizers invited progressive artists including older Eugène Boudin whose example had first persuaded Monet to adopt painting outdoors. Thirty artists participated in their first exhibition held in April 1874 at photographer Nadar's studio. Claude Monet exhibited a work titled Impression, Sunrise which provoked critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satirical review published in the Parisian newspaper Le Charivari. Derisively titling his article The Exhibition of the Impressionists, Leroy declared Monet's painting was at most a sketch. He wrote in dialogue form between viewers questioning whether such work could be termed finished. The term Impressionist quickly gained favour with the public despite initial hostility. Critics like Leroy used wordplay with Monet's title to give the movement its name. The artists themselves accepted the term even though they were diverse in style and temperament. They unified primarily by spirit of independence and rebellion against academic standards. The group exhibited together regardless of shifting membership eight times between 1874 and 1886. Camille Pissarro remained the only artist to show at all eight Paris Impressionist exhibitions. Disagreements arose over Guillaumin's membership championed by Pissarro and Cézanne against opposition from Monet and Degas. Degas invited Mary Cassatt to display her work in the 1879 exhibition while insisting on including Jean-François Raffaëlli and Ludovic Lepic. This caused Monet in 1880 to accuse the Impressionists of opening doors to first-come daubers. The seventh Paris Impressionist exhibition in 1882 proved most selective showing works of only nine true impressionists.
French painters who prepared the way for Impressionism included Romantic colourist Eugène Delacroix and leader of realists Gustave Courbet. Painters of Barbizon school such as Théodore Rousseau also influenced the movement. Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Eugène Boudin befriended and advised younger artists with direct spontaneous styles prefiguring Impressionism. Short thick strokes of paint quickly captured essence rather than details often applied impasto. Colours appeared side by side with minimal mixing exploiting simultaneous contrast principle making colour appear more vivid. Greys and dark tones produced by mixing complementary colours avoided pure black paint use. Wet paint placed into wet paint without waiting created softer edges and intermingling of colour. Impressionist paintings did not exploit transparency of thin paint films earlier artists manipulated carefully. Paint surface typically remained opaque rather than transparent glazes. Paint applied to white or light-coloured ground replaced traditional dark grey or strongly coloured grounds used previously. New technology played crucial role in style development through mid-century introduction of premixed paints in tin tubes resembling modern toothpaste tubes. Artists worked more spontaneously both outdoors and indoors using these new containers. Previously painters made individual paints grinding dry pigment powders with linseed oil stored in animal bladders. Many vivid synthetic pigments became commercially available for first time during 19th century including cobalt blue viridian cadmium yellow and synthetic ultramarine blue all in use by 1840s before Impressionism. Even newer colours like cerulean blue became commercially available to artists in 1860s. During 1860s Monet and Renoir sometimes painted on canvases prepared with traditional red-brown or grey ground. By 1870s they usually chose lighter grey or beige grounds functioning as middle tone in finished painting. By 1880s some preferred white or slightly off-white grounds no longer allowing ground colour significant role.
Women Impressionists faced many social and career limitations compared to male counterparts despite sharing same ideals about depicting visual experience. They particularly excluded from imagery bourgeois social sphere boulevard cafe and dance hall where male Impressionists formed ideas. Women also excluded from formative discussions resulting meetings in those places. Academic realm believed women incapable handling complex subjects leading teachers restrict what taught female students. Considered unladylike to excel in art since women true talents then believed center homemaking and mothering. Several women found success lifetime even though careers affected personal circumstances. Bracquemond had husband resentful of work causing her give up painting. Four most well known Mary Cassatt Eva Gonzalès Marie Bracquemond and Berthe Morisot often referred to Women Impressionists. Their participation in eight Paris exhibitions varied: Morisot participated seven times, Cassatt four times, Bracquemond three times, Gonzalès did not participate at all. Critics lumped these four together without regard personal styles techniques subject matter. Parisian critic S.C. de Soissons argued women know how observe seeing quite different from men see. He claimed art put gestures toilet decoration environment sufficient give idea instinctive peculiar genius residing each one. While Impressionism legitimized domestic social life as subject matter women intimate knowledge it tended limit them that subject matter. Portrayals often-identifiable sitters domestic settings offering commissions dominant in exhibitions. Subjects paintings often women interacting environment by gaze or movement. Cassatt aware placement subjects kept predominantly female figures from objectification cliche when inactive seemed lost thought. Women Impressionists like male counterparts striving truth new ways seeing new painting techniques. Each artist individual painting style despite shared goals. Morisot and Cassatt conscious balance power between women objects paintings bourgeois women depicted not defined decorative objects instead interact dominate things live with.
As influence spread beyond France artists became identified practitioners new style across continents. American Impressionists included Mary Cassatt William Merritt Chase Frederick Carl Frieseke Childe Hassam Willard Metcalf Lilla Cabot Perry Theodore Robinson Edmund Charles Tarbell John Henry Twachtman Catherine Wiley J. Alden Weir. Australian Impressionists Tom Roberts Arthur Streeton Walter Withers Charles Conder Frederick McCubbin E. Phillips Fox prominent members Heidelberg School plus John Russell friend Van Gogh Rodin Monet Matisse. Amsterdam Impressionists George Hendrik Breitner Isaac Israëls Willem Bastiaan Tholen Willem de Zwart Willem Witsen Marie Henry Mackenzie Jan Toorop. California Impressionists William Wendt Guy Rose Alson Clark Donna N. Schuster Sam Hyde Harris. Anna Boch Eugène Boch Georges Lemmen Théo van Rysselberghe Belgian painters. Slovenian Impressionists Ivan Grohar Rihard Jakopič Matija Jama Matej Sternen began school Anton Ažbe Munich influenced Jurij Šubic Ivana Kobilca working Paris. Wynford Dewhurst Walter Richard Sickert Philip Wilson Steer well known from United Kingdom. German Impressionists Max Liebermann Lovis Corinth Ernst Oppler Max Slevogt August von Brandis. Russian artists Konstantin Korovin Valentin Serov created impressionistic sculptures animals breaking old world concepts. Skagen Painters group Scandinavian artists painted small Danish fishing village. Fujishima Takeji brought movement to Japan. Nazmi Ziya Güran introduced style Turkey. Chafik Charobim worked Egypt. Eliseu Visconti Brazil. Joaquín Sorolla Fermín Arango Spain. Faustino Brughetti Fernando Fader Candido Lopez Martín Malharro Walter de Navazio Ramón Silva Argentina. James Nairn New Zealand. William McTaggart Scotland. Maurice Cullen Laura Muntz Lyall Helen McNicoll Canada. Władysław Podkowiński Poland. Nicolae Grigorescu Romania.
Edgar Degas primarily known painter lifetime began pursue medium sculpture later artistic career 1880s. Created as many 150 sculptures during lifetime preferring wax allowing changes start over further explore modelling process. Only one Little Dancer of Fourteen Years exhibited lifetime shown Sixth Impressionist Exhibition 1881. Little Dancer proved controversial critics some considered overthrow sculptural traditions way Impressionism overthrew painting traditions others found ugly. Following Degas death 1917 heirs authorized bronze castings 73 artist's sculptures. Sculptor Auguste Rodin sometimes called Impressionist used roughly modeled surfaces suggest transient light effects. Medardo Rosso also called Impressionist. Russian artists created impressionistic sculptures animals endowing birds beasts new spiritual characteristics. Edgar Degas pursued photography later life photographs never exhibited lifetime not much attention given following death. Late 20th century scholars started take interest Degas's photographs. Pictorialist photographers characterized soft focus atmospheric effects called Impressionists used techniques photographing subjects out focus using soft focus lenses pinhole lenses manipulating gum bichromate process create images resembling paintings. French Impressionist Cinema term applied loosely defined group films filmmakers France 1919 to 1929 years debatable. Abel Gance Jean Epstein Germaine Dulac Marcel L'Herbier Louis Delluc Dmitry Kirsanoff included. Musical Impressionism movement European classical music arose late 19th century continued middle 20th century originated France characterized suggestion atmosphere eschewing emotional excesses Romantic era. Composers favoured short forms nocturne arabesque prelude often explored uncommon scales whole tone scale. Notable innovations introduction major 7th chords extension chord structures 3rds five six-part harmonies. Claude Debussy Maurice Ravel generally considered greatest Impressionist composers though Debussy disavowed term calling invention critics. Erik Satie considered category approach regarded less serious more musical novelty nature. Paul Dukas sometimes considered Impressionist style perhaps closely aligned late Romanticists. Lili Boulanger clear Debussian sounds considered Impressionist also. American Impressionist music differs European mainly reflected Charles Tomlinson Griffes Poem flute orchestra most prolific United States. Literary Impressionism describes works few select details suffice convey sensory impressions incident scene. Closely related Symbolism major exemplars Baudelaire Mallarmé Rimbaud Verlaine. Virginia Woolf D.H. Lawrence Henry James Joseph Conrad written works Impressionistic describe rather interpret impressions sensations emotions constitute character mental life.
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Common questions
Who founded the Impressionist art movement in 1873?
Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Cézanne, Berthe Morisot, and Edgar Degas founded an association to exhibit independently in December 1873. These artists expected to forswear participation in official Salon exhibitions while inviting progressive figures like Eugène Boudin.
When did the first Paris Impressionist exhibition take place?
The first exhibition occurred in April 1874 at photographer Nadar's studio with thirty participating artists. Claude Monet exhibited a work titled Impression Sunrise during this event which provoked critic Louis Leroy to coin the term Impressionist.
Why was the Salon of the Refused created in 1863?
Emperor Napoleon III decreed that the public could judge works rejected by the Salon jury after they refused Manet's The Luncheon on the Grass. This decree allowed the public to view paintings that depicted realistic nudes in contemporary settings rather than historical ones.
How did new technology influence Impressionist painting techniques?
Mid-century introduction of premixed paints in tin tubes enabled artists to work more spontaneously both outdoors and indoors. Previously painters ground dry pigment powders with linseed oil stored in animal bladders before synthetic pigments became commercially available in the 19th century.
Which women participated most frequently in the eight Paris Impressionist exhibitions?
Berthe Morisot participated seven times while Mary Cassatt appeared four times and Marie Bracquemond three times. Eva Gonzalès did not participate at all despite being one of the four most well known Women Impressionists alongside Morisot, Cassatt, and Bracquemond.