French Impressionism
Art History Unit
Floral Design
French Impressionism Period
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Started by a group of Paris-based artists who
exhibited their art in the 1860’s.
The name of the movement is derived from
Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise painting.
Characteristics of Impressionist painting include
visible brushstrokes, light colors, open
composition, and emphasis on light in its
changing qualities
Radicals in their time, this group broke the
picture-making rules of painting. They allowed
colors to overpower lines.
Primary Artists:
Monet
Degas
Van Gogh
Renoir
Seurat
Cezanne
Monet
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Claude Monet – French
painter, initiator, leader,
and unswerving
advocate of the
Impressionist style
Later, his attention was
focused on the gardens
at Giverny, which was
Waterlilies, 1923
the theme for the
series of paintings on Gardens at Giverny, 1900
Water-lilies
Renoir
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Renoir painted landscapes
as well as people in intimate
and candid compositions
He sometimes applied paint
with a palette knife rather
than a brush.
Characteristic of
impressionism style, Renoir
Girl with a Watering Can, 1876
painted not the details of a
scene, but instead his
figures softly fuse with one Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, 1876
another and the
Degas
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Edgar Degas
Best known for his ballet
dancers and racehorses,
because he was able to perfect
movement in them
He later became a
photographer to capture
movement accurately
His paintings were like
snapshots, freezing a moment
in time
He did not have dissolving lines
His primary influence were
Japanese prints (the odd
The Dance Class, 1875
angles)
At the Races, 1880
Seurat
Georges Seurat
 The ultimate example of the
artist as scientist
 Known for his technique
called pointillism, or
divisionism, which uses
small dots or strokes of
contrasting color to create
subtle changes in form
 Later in his life he created 1
large canvas per year, all
dotsAfternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886
Sunday
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Vase of Flowers, 1880
The Potato Eaters,1885
Van Gogh
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Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch
His work show the objects, people,
and places in his life with bold, usually
distorted, draughtsmanship and
visible dotted or dashed brushmarks
He only cut off his ear lobe
He didn’t want to be famous
He did have mental illness, but he
painted when he was sane
He is VERY popular, but also great
He committed suicide (but it took 2
days)
Wheatfield with Crows, 1890
Cezanne
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Paul Cezanne
Known as the “Father of
Modern Art”
Lived as an outsider, very
isolated
He tried to bring back
structure and mass to
painting
He focused on still lifes,
bathers, and landscapes
He made space confusing,
with out depth
Houses along the Road 1881
Compote, Pitcher, Fruit 1894