By: Paula Ribeiro

FRENCH IMPRESSIONISM

• A 19-th Century art movement that originated with a group of Paris- based artists.

• Impressionism got its start when several painters began using more natural methods of lighting in their work and looking at the world with freshness. They wanted to paint the immediate image,

and were focused on immediacy.

• The name of the style derives from the title of a Claude Monet work called Impression, Soleil Levant (Impression, Sunrise).

• A critic named Louis Leroy coined the name Impressionism to this style of painting in a satirical review published in the Parisian

newspaper Le Charivari.

• The Impressionist painters were influenced by the Japanese woodblock prints.

The French Impressionism Movement

Techniques Used

• Impressionist paintings characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes.

• It has an open composition and an emphasis on accurate depiction of light. It often accentuates the

effects of the passage of time.

• It is a painting of the ordinary subject matter, including movement as a crucial element of human

perception and experience.

• The paintings were usually done in short periods of time. It also has unusual visual angels of mostly

outdoor scenes and landscapes.

How they were viewed• At first, Impressionism had a harsh opposition from the

conventional art community in France.

• Impressionist were not looked at as good artists. They were looked at as artists who changed the accepted

concepts on color and light within a painting.

• Rumors say that Impressionism was rejected by the French high society.

• The paintings were not looked at the same way as traditional paintings were because they were depicting the lives of people and events that were “insignificant”.

Examples of

Impressionist

PaintingsMixed Artists

Starry Night - Vincent Van Gogh

Water lilies and Japanese Bridge - Claude Monet

Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte - Georges Seurat

Luncheon of the Boating Party - Pierre Auguste Renoir

The Star - Edgar Degas

1841-1919

PIERRE- AUGUS

TE RENOIR

About Pierre-Auguste Renoir

• Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born on February 25th, 1841 in Limoges, France.

• As a boy Renoir worked in a porcelain factory where his talent led him to be chose to paint on fine china. He also

painted for overseas missionaries and decorated fans before he even went to

an arte school.

• In 1862 Renoir began studying art, and he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille

and Claude Monet. He did not have the money to pay for paint during that time,

yet he still managed to paint.

• Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was one of the leading painters in the

development of the Impressionist style.

Renoir’s Life• Renoir’s paintings were first exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1864, but his recognition did not come for another 10

years, due to the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War.

• In the first Impressionist Exhibition in 1874, six of Renoir’s paintings were there. And two were shown in

London as well that same year.

• Renoir was a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality.

• Renoir spent a lot of time traveling and painting, he painted 15 painting in one month while in Guernsey and he painted ta portrait of Richard Wagner in just thirty-

five minutes.

Pierre’s Family• Pierre married Aline Victorine

Charigot in 1890.

• She has been one of his models for his painting Luncheon of the

Boating Party.

• He already had a child with Aline named Pierre who was born in

1885.

• After getting married, Renoir painted many scenes of his wife and daily family life, like the one

on the left.

• Pierre-Auguste and Aline had three sons, Jean, Pierre and Claude.

Renoir’s Career• Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis in 1892 but continued to

paint during the last twenty years of his life. Even though his arthritis severely limited his movement and he was in a wheelchair.

• Renoir's paintings are notable for their vibrant light and saturated color, most often focusing on people in intimate and candid

compositions. The female nude was one of his primary subjects.

• Renoir’s paintings were typically Impressionist snapshots of real life full of sparkling color and light.

• Renoir was a prolific painter and artist who made several thousand paintings. His work is one of the most well-known and frequently-

reproduced works in the history of art.

• Renoir died on December 3, 1919 at the at the age of 78 in Cagnes-sur-mer.

RENOIR’S

FAMOUS PAINTING

S

Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876

Girls at the Piano, 1892

The Theater Box, 1874

The Swing, 1876

On the terrace, 1881

Luncheon at the Boating Party, 1880-1881

Dance at Bougival, 1882-1883

A Girl with a Watering Can, 1876

Claude Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil, 1873

Young girl combing her hair, 1894

• At first, Impressionism was looked at as weird and it was not

accepted.

• Later, it started being accepted because the United States was a

newly formed country.

• The US were ready to accept new forms of art, since the pilgrims

came here to start their own country.

• American artists such as Marilyn Bendell, Frank Weston Benson, Theodor Robinson and Frank W. Benson all became famous for

painting Impressionist paintings.

IMPRESSIONS’ IMPACT IN

AMERICA

Eleanor Holding a Shell, 1902 By: Frank W. Benson

THE END