Impressionism
Grade 4 Art
Christine Shonk, ©2014
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Impressionism was an art movement popular
in the late 19th century.
It was practiced by artists in Europe such as
Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Edgar
Degas.
Americans were influenced by French painters
joined the new art movement.
Let’s review some key art terms.
Click on this flower.
Microsoft Office Clip Art
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Artists used short brushstrokes to create an
“image”.
They highlighted beautiful, soft colors with
white, to add “light”.
Artists painted a variety of themes, including
women and children, animals, houses and
outdoor scenes.
REALISM
IMPRESSIONISM
Gustave Courbet, The Stonebreakers, 1849.
Theodore Robinson, Watching the Cows, 1892.
Notice the picture by Gustave
Courbet. This is a picture of
“realism”, an art movement where
artists painted real-life pictures.
The pictures were darker, and the
images painted true-to-life.
In this piece, animals and people are
painted in the picture. This is a
“gentle” scene, where the young child
is looking at the viewer. The light
green color accents the brown animals
and the blues in the clothing.
Mrs. Knowles and Her Children, 1902.
Click on the above picture to see more works.
Find two more works by this artist and the
dates of these works.
Agatha and Her Child, 1891
What do you notice in this
painting? Which theme is
painted here? What can you
tell about the colors? Are
there highlights in this piece?
Click on the image for more
information on Mary Cassatt.
Read paragraph 3 and find out
where Mary Cassatt was from.
Afternoon Fun
In this picture, notice the light highlighting the
central figures, formed by painting white on
the soft pink, orange and green.
Daniel Garber
Landscape
In this image, you can see
the trees painted in
different hues with short
brushstrokes. The tree
closest to you has golds
and greens, portraying an
“image” of rustling leaves.
Notice how “images” of the buildings are painted with
no definite lines. The background buildings are
“faded” into the backspace, with a “foggy” feeling.
This contrasts with the highlighted colors in the sky.
My Garden, 1900-03.
In this painting, we cannot “see” the exact faces
of the servants in the mid-ground, only
“impressions”. Notice the soft, pastel bluegreen, orange and pink color of the shutters,
roof, and tree leaves.
Brooklyn Museum (2014) Collections: John Singer Sargent. Retrieved June 9, 2014 from
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/artists/11/John_Singer_Sargent
Creative Commoms (2014). Mary Cassatt Biography: Early Life. Retrieved June 12,
2014 from http://www.marycassatt.org/biography.html
Impressionism in the Visual Arts. (2012) Retrieved June 8, 2014 from
http://www.impressionism.org/
Khan Academy (2014). The Stonebreakers. Retrieved June 12, 2014 from
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/the-stonebreakers.html
Microsoft Corporation (2010). Microsoft Office Clipart. Seattle, Washington.
Shonk, Christine (June 2, 2014). “Photos from the Butler. “ Youngstown, Ohio.
The Butler Institute of American Art (2014). The Butler Institute of American Art Online
Collection Database. Retrieved June 10, 2014 http://www.butlerartcollection.com/
Weinberg, H. Barbara (October 2004). " American Impressionism. Retrieved June 13,
2014 from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aimp/hd_aimp.htm