L’Impressionisme
19e siècle
• Impressionism was a 19th
century art movement that
began as a loose association of
Paris-based artists, who began
exhibiting their art publicly in
the 1860’s. The name of the
movement is derived from the
title of a Claude Monet painting,
called Impression, Sunrise.
Impressionist artists felt the
new technology of
Photography was ruining the
art of painting. They felt the
need to create a new style of
painting in which accurate
rendering of the subject was
not the main focus.
The Impressionists changed
the approach to painting by
recreating the sensation in
the eye that views the
subject, rather than
recreating the subject.
Characteristics of Impressionist
painting include:
• Visible brushstrokes
• Light Colors
• Emphasis on Light and the changing
qualities of it
• Ordinary Subject Matter
• Unusual Visual Angles
• Open Compositions
Visible Brushstrokes
The Changing Qualities of Light
Haystack - Morning
Haystack - Mist
Light Colors
Unusual Visual Angles
Ordinary Subject Matter
Techniques of Impressionists
•Short, thick strokes of paint.
•Colors are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as
possible, creating a vibrant surface.
•The optical mixing of colors occurs in the eye of the
viewer.
•Grays and dark tones are produced by mixing
complementary colors. In pure Impressionism the use
of black paint is avoided.
•Wet paint is placed into wet paint without waiting for
successive applications to dry, producing softer edges
and an intermingling of color.
•Painting in the evening to get effets de soir the shadowy effects of the light in the evening
or twilight.
•The surface of an Impressionist painting is
typically opaque.
•The play of natural light is emphasized.
•In paintings made en plein air (outdoors),
shadows are boldly painted with the blue of
the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving
a sense of freshness and openness that was
not captured in painting previously.
Short, thick brushstrokes
Masters of Impressionism
• Claude Monet – Lily ponds & Gardens
• Auguste Renoir – People Outdoors
• Edgar Degas – Dancers and Theater
• Camille Pissarro – Cities and Streets
• Alfred Sisley – Rivers and Landscapes
• Mary Cassatt- Mothers and Children
Monet painted…
Water lilies…
hut-shaped haystacks…
Rouen Cathedral
Renoir painted….
The Boating Party -
People Outdoors
Paintings by Auguste Renoir
Edgar Degas
• Considered the master of drawing the
human figure in motion
• Known for paintings of ballerinas
• Drew scenes of horse races and race
tracks
Degas is famous for…
Dancers
Horses
Cotton Exchange at
New Orleans
Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt was an
impressionist.
•
•
•
•
She was an American.
She painted mothers and children.
She had no children of her own.
She was friends with Degas, who also is
an impressionist.
Mary Cassatt painted…
Children on the Beach
naturalistic poses…
mothers and children…
Paintings by Camille Pissarro
Self Portrait
Boulevarde Montmartre – Rainy Afternoon - 1897
Paintings By Alfred Sisley
Bridge At Villanueve - 1872
The Boating Party
Dance at Bougival
Décrivez le
tableau
(painting)—les
vêtements, les
personnes, leurs
expressions, etc.
Dancers in the Old Opera House. 1877
Jeunes Filles au Piano
Décrivez le tableau
(painting)—la fille,
ses vêtements, son
expression, etc.
Little Girl With a Watering Can
The Dancing Class
Race Horses
Etoile
Dancers in Blue
Water Lilies
Sunrise
Wheat Stacks - Winter
Wheat Stacks – End of Summer
Water Garden at Giverny
The Japanese Footbridge, 1899
Vincent Van Gogh
Starry Night
Paul Gaugin
When Will You Marry?
Henri Matisse
La Desserte Rouge
Moulin Rouge
At the Moulin Rouge
In the Salon of the Rue de Moulins