Unit 5 Contextual Studies
Essay 1: Impressionism
Impressionism is an art movement that started to be known of in the 19 th century and has become the most artistic movement in Western Art. The trend of impressionism began in 1860s in Paris and has been recognized in other countries by now. Impressionism did not come out of nowhere; it is theories and practice that is linked back to earlier traditions in European Art. When an impressionism painting was first revealed to the public in 1874, the public did not acknowledge it and thought of it as a joke. It took sometime for people to build up the courage to accept the nature and beauty of Impressionism.
However, the way people see things in Impressionism has changed and now, instead of the title “impressionist” being an insult, it is a pleasure to be called an impressionist. These paintings are now enormously valuable items, worth large amounts of money in any currency and they are now recreated everywhere as prints, postcards and greetings cards.
Young artists including Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir,
Frédéric Bazille, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot and Edgar Degas became the major practitioners of Impressionism and the name of the style came from one of
Claude Monet’s work, “Sunrise: Impression, ‘Soleil Levant’”. Claude Monet usually worked from a light coloured surface on their canvases rather than the dark colors like dark brown used by some of the old masters. Over the light coloured base, they often painted with opaque colors that are not transparent or translucent and usually with short quick brushstrokes. As art critiques began to explore new subjects, they also made radical changes in painting techniques and style. Some began to take canvases out of their house whenever they see an image or view that interested them. The technical term for this is ‘Open air painting’. The paintings were often based around the same subject matters such as women relaxing, passing time, ballerinas, shop girls, family and friends, street scenes, landscapes and seascapes.
Impressionists use paint in a different way compared to traditional painters.
They have gone further with paint by directly putting paint onto the canvas whereas traditional painters carefully mix the paint in a palette to give an equal tone. Many impressionists including Claude Monet mixes the paint that is readymade with lead white to further enhance the luminosity on their canvas. Claude
Monet was born on November 14, 1840, in Paris, France. After an art exhibition in 1874, a critic insulted Monet’s artwork by saying that it is “unfinished” and they made terrible fun of Impressionism. It was also criticized by people saying,
“this isn’t real painting, and this is a mere impression”. Monet then suffered from depression, poverty and illness throughout his life and passed away in 1926.
The reason why people think of Impression this way is just because the style is different compared to other traditional paintings where every brush stroke is carefully trying to mimic the reality whereas Impressionism looks rushed.
Monet’s painting style of Impressionism was more concerned with form and light rather than realism. Monet is a painter in the Impressionist style, known for his images for natural sceneries, which are painted outdoors. One of my favorite works done by Monet was ‘Soleil Levant’, which was produced in 1873. It is oil on canvas painting and its measurements are around 48 x 63cm. This piece of artwork was exhibited in 1874 in Musée Marmottan in Paris.

Unit 5 Contextual Studies
Essay 1: Impressionism
Monet painted this picture of the sun seen through mist at the harbor of Le Havre when he was staying there in the spring of 1872. It was a quick sketch to capture the atmosphere moment that could be disappeared in a split of a second. In this painting, Monet has used short, quick brushstrokes to convey the effect of vividness. It is recognized as a painting with characteristics of Impressionism because it demonstrates the boldness of the brushstrokes and the vibrant colors that has been used. Monet’s technique in Impressionism is quoted as “When you go out to paint, try to forget what object you have before you- a tree, a house, a field, or whatever. Merely think, here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until you have your own naïve impression”. In 1859, Monet decided to move to Paris to pursue his art. During this time, he met Camille Pissarro, who was born on July 10, 1830, on the island of St. Thomas. He was a French landscape artist best known for his influence on Impressionist and
Postimpressionist painting. His quote was “it is absurd to look for perfection”.
One of my favorite works done by Pissarro is definitely ‘Avenue de l’Opéra: Snow
Effect’ which was painted in 1899. It is oil on canvas painting and its measurements are around 54 x 65cm.
This painting depicted the effect of a fall of snow on the street and the buildings, trees, carriages and people in it, and on the light and atmosphere. It was

Unit 5 Contextual Studies
Essay 1: Impressionism obviously painted shortly after a snowfall; the snow has disappeared at ground level, reduced to a creamy slush on the roads and a grey slush on the pavements.
It is an example of Impressionism because as you can tell, the strokes of the snow effect are really blunt. It almost looks like it is three-dimensional which makes the target audience feel involved. Similarly, Monet and Pissarro was both interested in painting the Mother Nature and the natural environments. Another
Impressionist that always bases their paintings on natural sceneries is Alfred
Sisley. Alfred Sisley was born on October 30, 1839, in Paris. He was a French impressionist painter, primarily of landscapes. Of all the Impressionist artists of the period, he was the purest landscape painter of water, particularly rivers. He painted nearly 900 oil paintings and fewer than a dozen were still lives and only one or two were genre scenes, the remainders were landscapes. One of my favorite works done by Sisley is ‘The Boat During the floor at Port-Marly’ which was painted in 1876. It is oil on canvas painting and its measurements are around 61 x 50.5cm.
The evidence of this painting being an Impressionism piece of work is portrayed in the broken brushwork within the painting, which gives movement and texture to the picture. He captured the great expanse of water with moving reflections that transformed the peaceful house of a wine merchant into something mysterious. Sisley placed the white house in a specific position, leaving proximity for the sky and water. For the flooded area, he used light colors and broad brushstrokes placed side by side. In comparison, he expressed the solidity of the house and its pink and yellow walls with very precise brushstrokes. Unlike
Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley’s common use of subject matter, Edgar Degas and Pierre Auguste Renoir, on the other hand has an obsession of painting ballerina or dancers in general. What differs between these two artists is that Pierre Auguste Renoir also paints portraits of people rather than only focusing on ballerina dancers. Pierre Auguste Renoir was an innovative artist who was born on February 25, 1841 in Limoges, France. He quotes “I was a very diligent student; I ground away in the academic way… But I never obtained the slightest honorable mention and my professors were unanimous in finding my painting wretched”. One of my favorite works done by Renoir is ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ which was created in 1881. It is oil on canvas painting and its measurements are around 130 x 175cm.

Unit 5 Contextual Studies
Essay 1: Impressionism
Renoir’s style features open-air landscapes, family scenes, and portraits such as
‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’. Renoir’s style of painting in Impressionism has changed quite a lot. He first started using bold lines to outline his objects and uses black to provide contrast and he focused less on brushstrokes and blending colors and more on form and contouring. He then developed his own unique style, which fussed his sunny, optimistic outlook with bold, contrasting lines. In his advanced years, his style changed again and this time it is changed to using red and orange more and having thick brush strokes. Renoir’s paintings are characterized by their use of vibrant light, portraying his subjects both vividly and spontaneously. In his painting ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’, he skillfully uses shapes, space, color and texture to create this scene. The figures and bottles add shape to the canvas and the overlapping of bodies gives a sense of space.
Movement is shown through gestures and expression of the people in the painting. This painting reflects both the time period and Impressionist style.
Renoir’s palette contains many golden tones and the women’s fair skin is reddened from the result of sunlight. Edgar Degas, on the other hand focuses more on painting ballerinas. He was born on July 19, 1834, in Paris, France. He enjoyed capturing female dancers and played with unusual angles and ideas around centering. He quotes “If painting weren’t difficult, it wouldn’t be so fun”.
He is diverse because he did not attempt to capture moment in a quick stroke just like other impressionists I have mentioned previously. Everything is studied, planned, and done in the studio under controlled conditions. In the 1860s, he was introduced to Impressionism by Édouard Manet and he gave up on his academic aspirations, turning his subject matter to the fast-moving city of Paris, particularly the ballet studio, theatre, circus, racetrack and cafes. Ballerinas are certainly known as one of his key themes in his works. He is attracted by the spectacle of the ballet with its elegance of costume and scenery, its movement, which is at once spontaneous and restrained. Usually, he paints the ballerinas at an awkward moment, when they are tying their ballet shoes or when they droop exhausted after a difficult practice. One of my favorite works done by Edgar
Degas is ‘Dancer in Front of the Window’ which was painted in 1874. It is oil on canvas painting and its measurements are around 50 x 65cm.

Unit 5 Contextual Studies
Essay 1: Impressionism
Although the brushstrokes in this painting is fairly precise compared to other paintings, but the background of the ballet studio is still looking “unfinished”.
The colors are really dull and opaque. Degas completed paintings in his studio hat originated as sketches of living models, strongly influencing later artists such as Picasso.
After artists in the world have recognized the Art movement of Impressionism,
Post-impressionism was developed no longer after. From the 1880s, several artists began to develop different concepts for the use of colors, pattern, form and line and derived from the Impressionist example Vincent Van Gogh. The post-impressionists were slightly younger than the Impressionists, and their work is known as post-impressionism. Post Impressionists took the basic characteristics of Impressionism and furthered the limitations. Similar to impressionists, they chose to use varied bright colors and thick application of paint, noticeable brushstrokes and realistic subject matter but now there is more unnatural color, form distortion and bold geometric shapes.