Impressionism 1870–1886: Defining Characteristics and Key Painters

The Impressionist Movement: Characteristics and Key Artists (1870–1886)

Impressionism was a pictorial movement born in Paris between 1870 and 1886. It represented a complete break with academic tradition. The first paintings rejected by the Salon led to the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874.

Core Characteristics of Impressionist Painting

• Fleeting Image and Reality: The central idea was the expression of a concrete moment, capturing reality, light, air, and atmosphere using loose brushstrokes.
• Color and Light Study: Impressionists employed a scientific study of color. Primary colors were not mixed on the palette but blended optically by the viewer (secondary strokes). Color was applied over drawing, lacking traditional depth, and replacing local color with mental perception. They famously avoided the use of black or bitumen.
• Thematic Focus: The subject matter was secondary, serving primarily as a pretext to capture the ambient light and atmosphere (en plein air).
• Sociology and Academia: Impressionism was a forefront art movement, breaking with the conservative academic art that relied heavily on traditional thematic use.

Key Impressionist Masters and Works

Édouard Manet

Manet, from a bourgeois family, began his artistic career painting realistic canvases. He greatly admired Goya and Velázquez.

• Lunch on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe): Features a female nude in a landscape setting with two clothed young men. The painting has an anti-academic, almost flat appearance due to its milky tones.
• Olympia: A nude resting on a sofa with a Spanish shawl. Notable for the contrast between the white and dark background. A maid delivers a bouquet. Her intense, direct gaze suggests the viewer is the hypothetical client who sent the flowers.
• Argenteuil

Claude Monet

Monet was central to the movement, focusing intensely on light and color series.

• Impression, Sunrise: The painting that gave the movement its name. It features a red sun disk projected onto the water, using intense orange color strokes. The sky and water merge into a violet shade, plotted with broken brushstrokes that define the dark silhouettes of the boats.
• Series Painting: Monet famously painted the same subjects at different times (e.g., the Rouen Cathedral series), capturing each moment using varying tones, from golden morning light to blue twilight, demonstrating how light fundamentally changes the subject.
• Water Lilies (Nymphéas) series.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Renoir, from a working-class background, often frequented bohemian and lower-class environments. He focused heavily on the portraiture of the human body and joyful scenes.

• Bal du moulin de la Galette: A famous depiction of Parisian life, often featuring many flower crowns.

Edgar Degas

Degas, from an aristocratic family, focused on scenes of modern life, often depicting the working class, movement, and performance.

• He painted scenes of horse racing, dance, and ballet (e.g., The Dance Class, Parade).

Camille Pissarro

Pissarro is known for his extensive artistic trajectory. He specialized in Impressionistic landscapes, capturing light and depth, often including human figures. He utilized yellow-greens and was a precursor to Pointillism due to his short, released brushstrokes.

• Works include: Woman in Garden and Path of Versailles.