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Impressionism as an art form was born in 19th Century France when a young artist named Claude Monet presented a painting named Impression, Sunrise at a exhibition at the Académie Suisse , run by painter Charles Suisse. The term “impressionism” was tossed out somewhat sarcastically by a critic to describe that particular painting as well as others that were displayed at the exhibition. Impressionist painters were not particularly well-received by their contemporaries and were actually ridiculed by the public and even by newspapers . However, today we admire their simplicity and beauty.
Of note immediately on an impressionist painting is the use of short, broken brushstrokes of bright colors that create texture in the painting. The colors are actually placed beside one another, somewhat like printer inks rather than mixed together, giving the pictures a somewhat ethereal look. The usual and accepted subject of art at that time was history and historical figures, and impressionist artists also broke away from that and preferred to paint landscapes and other scenes around them. They left the studios and went outside to paint their world.
The founder of the movement of impressionism is believed to be Edouard Manet though he was, indeed, absent from the very first exhibition of the young artists. Manet’s entrance refusal to the Salon of Paris angered some in the art community so much that Napoleon III agreed to pen a “Salon des Refusés,” for Manet and others to show. Other young artists began to show much interest in the works of Manet and began to form a clique around him and adopt similar styles of painting. When the impressionist painters began showing their paintings without Manet, there were a total of eight exhibitions over 12 years, from 1874-1886.
Claude Monet is perhaps the most well known of the impressionist painters. His preference was for landscapes. He worked outdoors which was common among impressionists and against the norm of the contemporaries, and he used bright, sometimes unmixed colors against one another. He also experimented a lot with light in his pictures.
Pierre Auguste Renoir was another famous impressionist who showed his work at the Salon des Refusés. His subjects were more particularly human, and most notably, female. He was recognized as the most independent of the impressionist artists. Many of Renoir’s paintings have been duplicated by use of laser toner and high-gloss paper to create a nearly exact copy of his masterpieces so that we might enjoy them in our homes as well.
Camille Pissaro was perhaps most noted for his role as mentor and teacher to other impressionist artists such as Paul Cezanne and Paul Gauguin, both significant post-impressionist artists. Pissaro painted French life , both rural and urban, and he was the only one who exhibited at all eight shows at the Académie Suisse.
Also exhibiting was Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas who specialized in scenes of contemporary life , of dancers and women and culture. If Monet and Pissaro showed us the peaceful, aesthetically gentle side of impressionism, Degas showed us the fun, showy, glamorous side of it as well.
One of the inciting factors of the impressionist movements was the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. During the war Monet left for England where he had the opportunity to study under John Constable and Joseph Mallord William Turner who inspired his love of landscape art. Manet , Degas , and Renoir served in the military during the Franco-Prussian war. Pissaro fled the city during the war, taking his family from war to protect them. The Prussians used his home in his absence and his pictures as well. Of the 1,500 paintings he had painted to that point, only 40 remained after the Prussian army had stepped all over them and used them to wipe their muddy boots. These men all had many different experiences during the time of the war, but as that war winded down and that city was being rebuilt, the subjects jumped out at them and onto their canvases.
They found beauty in the city around them. They found that the public wanted their “impression” of reality rather than the actual reality. They found a venue to exhibit their work. And, although they would not be recognized for their contributions to the art world for nearly 20 years, they had an audience. And they painted, and what they
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