ImpressionismPosted by nshirodkar on August 25th, 2010 Impressionism started in the 19th century. It was an art movement which started as a loose association of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions made them famous in the 1870s and 1880s. The name, impressionism, was inspired by Claude Monet's famous work, 'Impression, Sunrise'.Features of impressionist paintings are comparatively small, thin, but visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis given on exact depiction of light in its changing hues (often enhancing the effects of passing time), ordinary subject matter, the involvement of movement as a critical element of human understanding and experience, and uncommon visual angles, Started with the visual arts, impressionism spread over other media which gave rise to Impressionist music and Impressionist literature. Early Impressionist disobeyed the rules of academic painting. They started using colors, freely brushed, importance to line, getting inspired from the painters, like Eugene Delacroix. They took the action of painting outside the studio to the open world. Before that still lifes, portraits and landscapes were painted indoors. The Impressionists concluded that they would catch the momentary and transient impacts of sunlight by painting, en plein air, meaning in open air. They painted the realistic pictures of modern life, with overall visual effects in place of details. They utilized short and broken brush strokes of mixed as well as pure unblended colors, not smoothly shaded, which was a rule, in order to get the effect of strong color vibrations. At first, people were against impressionism, but they gradually realized that the Impressionists had come up with a fresh and original view, however art critics did not approve this movement. Then Napoleon III restarted the Academie des Beuax-Arts and the atmosphere changed. The academy dominated the French art scene in the 19th century. It upheld the traditional magnitudes for French painting, both in content and style. More importance was given to historical subjects, portraits and religious themes, but not to landscapes and still life. The academy gave preference to carefully finished pictures which showed reality when examined closely. In 1863, when the jury rejected a painting by Edouard Monet, emperor Napoleon III gave a judgment that the public itself should decide about how the work is. Impressionist techinques include short thick strokes catching quickly the essence of the subject than the details, colors applied side-by-side with as less mixing as possible, to create a vibrant surface, grays and dark hues produced by blending complementary colors (Pure impressionist pictures are devoid of black color), wet paint placed into wet paint, not waiting for previous applications to dry, paint in the evening to achieve effects de soir, that is, the twilight effects, and so on. Impressionist masterpieces include 'Impression, Sunrise', 'Haystacks' and 'Woman with a Parasol' by Claude Monet, 'Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garennel by Alfred Sisley, 'Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette'., 'On the Terrace' and 'Girl with a Hoop' by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 'Boulevard Montmartre' by Camille Pissarro, and many more. Like it? Share it! More by this author |