IMPRESSIONISM

"Impressionism is only direct sensation. All great painters were less or more impressionists. It is mainly a question of instinct."

 A theory or style of painting originating and developed in France during the 1870s, characterized by concentration on the immediate visual impression produced by a scene and by the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to simulate actual reflected light.

CHARACTERISTICSThe brush strokes in Impressionist art are very distinctive. Impressionist painters used large and visible strokes to help portray a dreamy and abstract mood.

The lighting is often one of the most important focal points in Impressionist painting. Several Impressionist painters devoted entire series of paintings to a single object observed during different times of the day. Some pictures have haystacks flecked with gold and yellow streaks in the bright afternoon light while others have the stacks flecked with blue and black in the late afternoon light.

The lines in Impressionist art are often subtle and blurry. There may or may not be a defined break between one shadow and the next, which creates a foggy effect. However, Impressionists loved to play with lights and shadows. The painting may have a sharp silhouette line filled with blurred shadow lines or a blurry background with a sharp foreground.

The colors in Impressionist art are fanciful, though not necessarily romanticized. The hues may reflect each tone found in the actual image, or the colors may be broken down into basic elements. An Impressionist would portray the contrasts in the suns rays on the ground, with some areas of the grass pure yellow, some part yellow, some light yellow and some devoid of all yellow.

Impression: Sunrise, 1872 by Claude Monet

Paintings of Haystacks by Monet

Claude Monet

Mary Cassatt Berthe Morisot shows a peaceful moment for the mother.

Toulouse Lautrec captures a moment at a Table at the Moulin Rouge.

Edgar Degas show ballet dancers practicing and performing.